Pokemon: The True Ash and May Stories
by StartersoverLegends
Summary: This is my first fan fic, as well as one with plenty of Advanceshipping. As Ash, May, Brock and Pikachu explore the new Hoenn region, a strong romance brews among Ash and May, changing the entire course of the story. I hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**: _Arrival_ (Ash)

Excitement was in the air as a teenaged Ash Ketchum spotted the coastline of the vast Hoen region. Ash had been stuck on a boat with his friend Brock and longtime partner Pikachu for almost a week, in which time he quickly grew restless.

"Look, Pikachu! I see Hoen!" Ash shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

"Pika pikaa!" The small yellow mouse pokemon replied with equal enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, Brock was confusedly staring at a map, trying to figure out where the duo should go after arriving in the cozy town of Littleroot.

"I can't wait to get off of this boat and onto land, especially land with all new pokemon!" Ash continued on.

"Woah, woah. Hold on buddy," Brock replied, looking up from the map and smiling at his friend. "First we have to stop at Professor Birch's lab."

"Oh yeah," Ash recalled the short conversation with professor Oak on the video phone before their trip.

_"Hello Ash. And to you too, Brock."_

_"Hey professor!" Ash had replied, "Good to see you", Brock greeted_

_"Sorry to bother you boys, but I need your help with something important."_

_"What is it, professor?" Both asked in unison._

_"We'll, you see, I've been wanting to gather information on some pokemon indigenous only to the Hoen region,"_

_"Oh, wow the Hoen region!" Ash said enthusiastically."I heard they have some really rare pokemon."_

_"Exactly, Ash." the pokemon professor continued with a smile. "But I'm not as young as I used to be and traveling long distances doesn't really suit me anymore. So when I decided to organize a trip to Hoen, I said to myself 'Ash and Brock are the perfect trainers for the job!'"_

_"Wow, it's an honor professor," Brock started, "But how are we supposed to get there from Kanto?" _

_"I'm glad you asked, Brock. I recently got into touch with a good friend of mine, who also happens to be a well-known pokemon Professor. He said that he would be happy to provide transportation to the region, as well as to get you in touch with some connections. Hoen is a very large place, you know."_

_"Wow, professor, that would be fantastic!" Ash replied happily. "What do you think, Pikachu?"_

_"Pikaaa!" Pikachu shouted in agreement._

_They all shared a laugh and Oak filled them in with the details of their departure. "And remember boys," Oak finished, "I'm counting on you to get data, but above all have fun and explore the place."_

Now here they were, about to take their first steps onto Hoen on a beautiful sunny day. As soon as the boat docked, ash darted off of the vessel with Pikachu at his heels, while Brock held up the back, still studying the map.

"Look!" Ash pointed at a large building that stood out in the small village. "I bet that's Professor Birch's lab!"

"Hm?" Brock looked up at the massive building. "Yep, looks about right."

As they entered the building, they were greeted immediately by all sorts of machines and monitors, although the building was strangely quiet.

"Woah," Ash said, in awe of all of the technology in the room.

"Hello?" Brock called through the building

"Yes? Who's there?" A large, muscular man with short brunette hair and a lab coat stepped into the room.

"Ah, you must be Ash from Pallet town, correct?" The man inquired.

"That's me!" Ash replied, shaking the man's hand.

"And you," the man continued, "Brock from Pewter City?"

Brock nodded. "How do you do?"

"Well, boys, my name is Professor Birch." The man said, now shaking hands with Brock. "This is my lab."

"Cool!" Ash replied, as Pikachu jumped into his arms.

"It's much larger than any of the pokemon labs I have seen." Brock said, looking around.

"Yes, our research has grown in support largely these last few years," the professor started. "Thanks to the hard work of my Aides."

"Yeah- where are they?" Ash asked, looking around. "Usually these labs are full of them."

"They've stepped out for a bit, to gather information on a rare pokemon that was spotted near here yesterday. I wanted to accompany them, but your arrival along with some errands kept me behind."

"Oh sorry professor, we didn't mean to delay your research." Brock said, exchanging a glance with Ash.

"Yeah, sorry." Ash agreed.

"Don't you boys worry about it," Birch said, his smile returned. "Like I said, I have some other errands keeping me around the lab today too. Which reminds me..." The professor was now scratching his chin, thinking about something.

"What is it, professor?" Ash asked.

"Norman, a friend of mine and gym leader of the Petalburg Gym, wanted me to call him on the video phone when you had arrived."

"Wow, a Gym leader?" Ash scratched his head. "Why would he want us?"

"We'll I guess we won't know until we call him, Ash." Brock replied.

"Exactly. Would you come with me please?" Norman led them out of the room and down a long hallway, with many more doors connected to it.

"It's even bigger than it looks on the outside!" Brock said.

"Like I mentioned before, this building used to be much smaller. In fact, this hallway didn't even exist up until a few years ago... Ah, here it is." The professor opened a door leading into a large room with several video phones.

"Oh dear, it appears I'm late," the professor said, looking down at his watch. "Let's not keep Norman waiting any longer." Ash, Brock and Pikachu followed the professor over to a monitor and waited as he punched some numbers into the machine. Suddenly, the screen lit up and a man with short bluish hair appeared.

"Ah, Norman!" The professor greeted.

"Professor, it's good to see you." Norman smiled. "And this must be the Ash and Brock you were telling me about."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Ash said into the monitor.

"A pleasure." Brock nodded.

"Well, I must say it's good to finally meet you two." Norman continued. "I watched Ash battle in the Silver Conference last year. I must say, despite your age you battled extremely well."

"T-thank you sir!" Ash said. "It's an honor"

"And Brock, I've been a long time fan of Pewter City's Gym operations."

"Well, thanks!" Brock replied with a smile.

"And of course, Pikachu. I saw on the conference, you pack quite a punch on the battlefield."

"Pika, Pikachu!" The small yellow pokemon happily replied, sitting now on Ash's shoulder.

"Not to interrupt, sir, but why did you want us again?" Brock asked politely.

"Well, to be honest, I heard from Professor Birch that you were going to travel across the Hoen region, and it just so happens that my kid is also old enough to travel now,"

"Oh cool!" Ash said. "I remember when I first set out on my journey, It was so exciting."

"Exactly." Norman said. "But it has come to my attention that she doesn't really want to travel alone, with just her pokemon. So that's why I would like to ask you two to travel with her. And maybe help to teach her about Pokemon as well."

"Of course!" Ash answered.

"The more the merrier!" Brock agreed.

"Fantastic!" Norman smiled. "I know that she'll have more fun and learn much more in your company."

"It's no problem, sir." Brock said.

"She should be there anytime now," Norman finished, "I sent her on her way this morning."

"Alright then," the professor spoke, "We will wait for her here."

"Good idea." Norman said, "And thank you again for looking over my daughter for me."

With that, the two trainers, professor, and Pikachu said their goodbyes to Norman and began to head back down the hallway to the first room.

"Hey, Professor," Ash spoke up.

"Yes, Ash?"

"Do you know Norman's daughter?" Although Ash was happy to have another traveling companion, he was unusually nervous. Probably because he didn't know her at all.

"Of course." The professor smiled at him. "She is about your age, you know."

"Really?" Ash asked.

"Mm hmm." The professor continued, "And really a nice girl. She just might take some getting-used to."

"What do you mean?" Brock asked before Ash could.

"She's a tad headstrong." Birch said, "but she is great to have around."

"So what pokemon does she have?" Ash asked.

"A Torchic that I gave her just last week."

"Oh, a Torchic!" Brock said, somewhat surprised. "I heard those are really rare."

"Indeed." The professor led them through some doors that took them back into the part of the building that they had fist come into. There, the group waited for about a half an hour for the girl. But for a restless boy such as Ash, this felt like hours. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, waiting inside when a whole new world awaited him just outside.

"Hey, professor," Ash spoke up, "could we wait outside for a bit?"

"Of course, Ash," Birch said with a smile. "I can see your not one for standing around."

So the trio (and Pikachu) went down to the ocean and walked on the sidewalk along the ocean for a while. It was a picture-perfect day. The sun had begun to set, sending its golden rays cascading over everything while the waves gently beat on the shore. While Brock and the professor discussed pokemon types, Ash was excited about meeting his new traveling companion. His confidence had returned, and he was ready to face anything that Hoen had to offer. At one point on the walk, Ash noticed how nice it was out and turned to Brock and the professor.

"I have to say professor, I love Hoen so far. It's really beaut-"

Ash was cut off by the sight of a girl walking toward them on the shore. The golden rays from the sun backlit her long brunette hair perfectly, although a decent amount of it was concealed behind the red bandana she wore above her bangs. She had beautiful blue eyes that fit in perfectly with the rest of her angelic face. She was slightly on the skinnier side, and at Ash's height, she stood out to him more than any other girl that Ash had ever encountered. Time seemed to slow down as she walked their way, her beautiful hair bouncing on her shoulders with each step, and a warm smile on her face.

"-iful" he finished, stopped in his tracks, his attention now fully on her.

"Ah, May!" The professor walked over to her, while Brock and Pikachu stayed behind with Ash. He literally couldn't take his eyes off of her. At one point she looked past the professor, directly at Ash, and blushed, looking back at the ground with a shy smile.

"Ash! Ash, buddy!"

"Huh? What?" Ash had snapped out of his trance to see Brock and Pikachu looking at him concerned.

"Are you ok?" Brock asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, fine." Ash shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Then let's go!"

"Where?" Ash asked, still trying to focus.

"Over to the professor, of course. I think that girl is Norman's daughter."

"Oh yeah. Sure."

Ash wasn't the type to become nervous, especially around girls. but he found that on the way over there his legs were shaking as bad as jello. Hopefully I can get over this soon, Ash thought. She is going to be traveling with us, after all. When Brock, Ash, and Pikachu had made their way over to the Professor, he introduced them.

"May, this is Brock..."

"Hello," May said, smiling at Brock.

_She has such a pretty voice,_ Ash thought to himself. He could also smell her perfume. It smelled like wild flowers, and he loved it.

"Nice to meet you," Brock said, returning the smile.

"And this," the professor continued, "Is Ash Ketchum."

They caught each other's eyes and both blushed, her looking at the ground again, and him scratching his head and averting his eyes.

"I'm May," she said shyly. "Nice to meet you."

"Y-you too." He cursed himself in his head for nervously stuttering. "I'm Ash."

"We'll, now that we're all acquainted, why don't we go and get something to eat?" The professor offered. At the mention of food, Ash and May perked up, both happening to love a good meal. The professor took the group down to a restaurant by the docks. As soon as they walked through the wooden double doors, an intoxicatingly good smell met the trainers.

"My treat tonight," the Professor said "But starting tomorrow you should start your adventure."

"Why not now?" Ash asked.

"Well, seeing as it is getting dark I thought you could stay over at my house for the night."

"That would be great, thank you!" Brock said happily

Ash, though disappointed that his adventure was delayed, was happy to know that they would have a nice place to rest before setting out. During the dinner, Brock and the professor discussed Pokemon breeding, while Ash and May were chowing down. And although the food was a good distraction, in his mind Ash was desperately trying to think of something to say to May. _Just talk to her!_ He thought bitterly, mouth full of mashed potatoes. _Say something!_ He would occasionally look up at her for a second, still amazed at her beauty, and sometimes their eyes would even meet, her doing the same quick glance strategy.

"Jeez! You guys could teach a thing or two to Snorlax about eating!" Said Brock, smiling at the two. both had full mouths and were nearly out of food. The group shared a laugh, Ash noticing for the first time in his life that someone was eating as fast as him.

"So professor," Ash started

"Yes, Ash?"

"You mentioned earlier that your Aides were out studying a rare Pokemon."

"That's right." The professor replied, with interest in his voice.

"What Pokemon is it?"

"I'm glad you asked." The professor set down his fork and put his attention on the group of trainers- they all wanted to hear what he was about to say. "There are a pair of mythical Pokemon in the Hoen region called Latias and Latios,"

"Oh, I know about them!" May said excitedly. "My Dad used to tell me stories."

"What kind of stories?" Brock asked her.

"That somewhere in the world there are a pair of Pokemon with unique abilities, like being able to turn invisible, or change form, or even talk to people."

"Telepathy, yes." The professor said. "Very good, may."

"Woah," Ash said, imagining a pokemon capable of such things. "That sounds incredible."

"Mm hmm." May said. "I used to love listening to Dad talk about them."

"Understandably so." Replied Brock, deep in thought.

"So wait," Ash turned again to the professor. "Latias and Latios were in the area recently?"

"We believe so," the professor answered. "There were multiple sightings in a nearby town of what sounded like Latias."

"But I thought you said that they were a pair?" Brock asked. "So where was Latios?"

"Well, hardly anyone has ever seen Latios because of its ability to turn invisible, and because it is said to be extremely fast."

"How fast?" May asked.

"Many believe that it can fly faster than a jet plane."

"Wow," the group said altogether.

"Also, there are many more sightings of Latias than of Latios because of their natures. Latias is, from all reports, very kind and playfull. On the other hand, Latios is thought to be very serious and secretive. This leads me to think that Latios is always with Latias, watching over her and making sure that she doesn't get too close to humans."

"They sound like amazing Pokemon," Ash said, his sense of adventure now overcoming his appetite. "I would love to meet one someday."

"You jut might, Ash." The professor replied.

"Huh?" The group asked.

"It is said that Latias and Latios are very good at reading people's hearts. Legend says that Latias appears in an area where a person with a heart of gold is, and therefore, Latios will be there as well"

"Wow." Ash said again, softly. "Hey Pikachu, would you like to meet Latias and Latios too?"

Pikachu looked up from its bowl of poke food, (courtesy of Brock), with its cheeks completely stuffed.

"Pkkka, pikacchu!" It mumbled through its full mouth. The group laughed.

"I love your Pikachu," May said, smiling. "It's so cute."

"Thanks!" Ash said in return. "I really like your Torchic, too."

"Thanks!" May answered. "And it looks like they're already friends."

Pikachu and Torchic were now chasing each other around in a circle, playing. After the group had finished eating and the professor had paid the check, they stepped out into the evening air. The sun had long since set, so they made their way back to professor Birch's house. Ash, Brock and Pikachu walked behind the professor and May, satisfied with their meal.

"Hey Ash," Brock asked, voice low so that the others couldn't hear.

"Yeah?" Ash asked, lowering his voice to match Brock's.

"Is something bugging you? You've been really quiet ever since we left the restaurant."

Ash had not realized that he was being so quiet and thought for a moment. "I guess I've just been thinking." This was true. Ever since they had left the restaurant he had been deep in thought about a few things: May, Latias and Latios, and the adventure that awaited him... But mostly May.

"About what?" Brock asked.

Ash smiled. "A couple of things."

"We'll, if you ever need to talk to about it, I'm all ears."

"Thanks, Brock." Ash said, looking from Brock to Pikachu to May. with friends like this, nothing was gonna keep him from enjoying his adventure in Hoen. Finally, they arrived at Birch's house. There, his wife greeted them all and instinctively offered food.

"No thanks," Ash said politely. "I don't think I could eat another bite if i tried." May and Brock nodded in agreement.

"Honey," Mrs. Birch started, "I thought you said that only two were staying over- We're a room short!"

The professor looked at them apologetically. "I suppose I forgot to mention that May was staying over too... I'm so sorry."

"May, please excuse my husband. He's been so caught up in his work lately that he's been forgetting things... But you're welcome to sleep on the couch, if you want."

"It's no problem. That sounds great, thank you." She said politely. But Ash could tell that she would rather sleep in a bed. Without thinking about it, he came to her rescue.

"Hey May," he got her attention.

"Yes, Ash?"

"You could take my room, if you'd like."

"Really?" She asked excitedly, "But... No, it's okay. I'll sleep down here. You should get the bed."

"No, really! I like couches better, anyway."

Ash could tell that she didn't believe him, but she finally agreed. While Brock and May settled into their rooms for the night, Ash took a quick shower. After changing into his spare sleeping clothes, he started making his way back downstairs to the couch. But before he got to the stairs, he passed May's room where he could hear her gently breathing in perfect rhythm. The sound was comforting to Ash. _Is she asleep already?_ He peaked into her room through the already open door and saw her form under the covers, her chest rising and falling with each breath. On the side table next to the bed sat her red bandana with the pokeball symbol on it. _Wow,_ Ash thought to himself, _she's even more beautiful without her bandana on._ Although he loved the way she wore the bandana over her hair, seeing her without it in such a peaceful state was even more attractive to him. "Sleep tight, May." He whispered before heading downstairs and falling into a deep sleep on the living room couch.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys. Thanks so much for reading my story, and like I put into the summary, I REALLY want your reviews. Harsh, Nice, Murderous, I don't care. Any and all input is appreciated, because it will allow me to write you better stories in the future.**

**WARNING: For those of you that read my first chapter, you are going to be experiencing major de ja vu. A lot of this chapter is review, but through May's eyes. I felt that it was important to include her side on things to provide insight into later chapters. For those of you who didn't read the first chapter, It's a lot longer and better than this one.**

**Oh, and that reminds me... PLEASE REVIEW. I really want each of your individual input, and will read EVERY review. I could also use help with Chapter 3, (I really hate writer's block!) so if any of you have some ideas, I would love to hear them**

**Thanks as always!**

**-StartersoverLegends**

**Chapter 2**: _Arrival_ (May)

Excitement was in the air as a teenaged May Maple glided down a forest trail on her brand new bicycle. She had been stuck in a house for almost a week with only her parents and little brother Max to keep her company. But now she was miles away, heading for Littleroot town and fulfilling a lifetime dream of hers- to travel the world freely. With only what was in her backpack, her bike, and new pokemon Torchic, she was a little less than prepared for a pokemon journey. But in Littleroot she was meeting with a pair of trainers who would travel with her, both with plenty of experience and supplies. Seeing as she was making great time so far, she pulled her bike over to the side of the trail for a lunch break.

"Torchic, come on out!" She said, throwing the pokeball. The ball opened and sent out her new partner, who immediately danced around in joy.

"Torchic tor!" It chirped happily, greeting her. May giggled.

"Lunchtime, Torchic." She said, pulling out a small bag of pokemon food and a sandwich for herself. While Torchic happily pecked at its meal, may was deep in thought, eating her sandwich unconsciously and staring into space. _If I keep at this pace, I should make it to Littleroot town way before it gets dark- which means I can fit in some shopping before we head out!_ she smiled at the thought of going on a shopping spree.

"Tor?" Torchic was now looking up at her expectantly, it's food bowl empty.

"Wow, somebody's hungry today now aren't we?" She smiled as she refilled the bowl.

_After We're done eating, we should get back on the road immediately._ She thought, full of ideas for what she could buy when they got there. After the two were done eating, may returned Torchic to its pokeball and remounted her bike. I love this! She thought, happy at how much the going-away present cut down her walking time. As the trail turned into some woods that May recognized as being adjacent to Littleroot town, she sped up even more on her bike. Now Practically flying down the trail, thinking about all of the shops and stores in town rather than her speed, May was oblivious to a small curious pokemon that zigzagged onto the trail. Finally, she caught some movement on the trail before her and snapped out of her daydreaming.

"_Ah!_ Zigzagoon!" She screamed as she quickly tried to brake. But she was going so fast that the only way to avoid hitting the creature was to swerve off of the trail and into the forest. Still keeping impressive speed, she flew past trees and pokemon, unable to stop. That was when she noticed that she was quickly coming up on a cliff that rose above the ocean. Seeing as she had only one option left, May grabbed her backpack and jumped off of the bike. She hit the ground hard and rolled several feet before looking up and watching her precious bicycle fly off of the cliff and into the ocean below. Discouraged, may walked over to the edge and stared down, no sign of her bike anywhere.

"I guess I'm just gonna have to walk the rest of the way," May sighed. She pulled out her new pokenav from her backpack and checked to see how far she was from town. "Well at least we're kind of close," she told herself and turned back to the trail. Not one for walking long distances, May trudged the rest of the way to town. Finally after about an hour of walking, she spotted the first buildings of Littleroot through the trees and began to run towards the nearest shop, her spirit lifted. There, she spent whatever pokemoney that she had with her on a few different outfits, some perfume that smelled kind of like wild flowers, and some pokeballs.

"Ahh, I could shop all day," May smiled as she stepped out of the store and into the cool air. "Wait a second... Why is the sun setting already? It was perfectly light out when we got here. But that means-" may checked the time on her pokenav. "Ah! I did shop all day! I'm late!"

With that she pocketed her pokenav and began running toward the docks, which she would then take to the Professor's lab. As she sprinted around the corner of a line of buildings, she spotted three people walking towards her. She immediately recognized one of the men to be the Professor. _So that means that the other two are my new traveling friends,_ she thought. The one who was talking to the Professor was tall, with dark hair and weird eyes. And the second- May stopped in her tracks and quickly doubled back behind the building that she had just come around. From there she peeked around the corner and stared at him. It was a boy who looked to be about her age. But more than that, he was super cute. She loved his long black hair that poked out from beneath his ball cap, and that everything about him screamed _**Pokemon Trainer!**_ She found that she couldn't keep her eyes off of him, as he walked her way. Luckily they hadn't seen her when she ran around the buildings. Smiling, she sighed as she watched the attractive boy.

"I have to make the _perfect_ first impression," she said to herself as she turned to one of the shop windows to check her reflection. "Ah! This can't be happening!" She squealed as she saw bits of leaves in her hair and dirt on her cheek, evidence of the bike crash.

Using the shop window as a mirror, she cleaned herself up and quickly brushed her hair. "Better," she said, then reached for the perfume in her bag. After giving herself a quick spritz on her collar, she was ready to go. _Just be calm and cool_, she thought. And with that, she walked out onto the cement walkway and started heading their way. The boy was now turned to the other two, saying something to the Professor, when she caught his eye and he froze in mid-sentence. She felt herself starting to blush, but fought it by keeping her eyes focused on the Professor.

"Ah, May!" The Professor said, walking over to her and shaking her hand gently. "I'm glad to see that you made it here safely. You know, we-" as the professor went on, May was more focused on her appearance. _I hope I look decent_, she thought as she politely kept eye contact with the Professor as he spoke. She had never felt this way about a guy before. Which was huge since she had not even talked to him yet. After thinking this, she couldn't take it anymore and let her eyes drift over to the boys face. But when their gazes met, she felt herself blush and shyly smiled at the ground. _He definitely noticed me._ She thought, _that's got to be worth something._ Before long, he other two trainers joined May and the Professor, who wasted no time in introducing them.

"May, this is Brock..."

"Hello," May smiled at him.

"Nice to meet you," Brock said, mirroring her smile.

"And this," the professor continued, "Is Ash Ketchum."

They caught each other's eyes and both blushed, May blushing at the ground again and ash averting his eyes.

"I'm May," she said shyly. "Nice to meet you."

"Y-you too. I'm Ash."

At hearing the nervousness in his voice, May relaxed a bit_. I guess we're both in the same boat._ She smiled. After they had all been introduced, the professor offered to buy them dinner. May had a love of eating, a trait that she shared with Ash. The group of trainers was led down to a restaurant along the docks and was waited on. While the Professor and Brock discussed pokemon breeding, Ash and May were chowing down. _Say something to him! _May thought bitterly. While she was trying to think of a conversation starter, she found herself constantly glancing up at Ash. From time to time she would catch him doing the same thing. Did that mean that he felt the same way about her?

"Jeez! You guys could teach a thing or two to Snorlax about eating!" Said Brock, smiling at Ash and May. both had full mouths and were nearly out of food. The group shared a laugh, buy May's laughter was coy. _I must look like a pig,_ she thought angrily to herself and made a point to eat slower for the remainder of the meal. When the group was wrapping up their meals, the Professor told them about a pair of legendary pokemon- Latias and Latios. It just so happened that this was one of May's favorite subjects, so she told them all about the stories that she had heard as a kid about the two. Ash in particular seemed very interested in the two pokemon.

"Hey Pikachu, would you like to meet Latias and Latios too?" Ash asked.

Pikachu looked up from its bowl of poke food, (courtesy of Brock), with its cheeks completely stuffed.

"Pkkka, pikacchu!" It mumbled through its full mouth. The group laughed, May's laughter real this time.

"I love your Pikachu," May said, smiling. "It's so cute."

"Thanks!" Ash said in return. "I really like your Torchic, too."

"Thanks!" May answered. "And it looks like they're already friends."

While Pikachu and Torchic played together, the Professor paid the check and the group headed out. Since it had already started to get dark out, the Professor insisted that the group stay at his house for the night. This fit May just fine, as she was getting tired and wanted to be well rested for her first day. On their way over to the Birch residence, May walked next to the Professor, while Ash and the others walked behind them. The whole time May was thinking about Ash, and her big journey that she would start in the morning.

"Listen, May" The professor asked, keeping his voice low so that only she could hear.

"Yes Professor?" She asked quietly.

"Has something been bothering you? I've known you since you were a little girl and you've never been this quiet."

"Oh, sorry Professor Birch. I didn't even realize I was doing it."

"It's perfectly fine, but I can tell that you're very distracted tonight. What's on your mind?" He asked, glancing at her.

May desperately tried to think of a good reason besides Ash to give to the professor.

"Well, you see I crashed my bike on the way over here and.."

"Oh no, are you hurt?" He asked, concerned.

"No, no I'm fine," May smiled. "But I lost my bike."

"Oh, I'm sorry May."

"It's fine," she replied. "We were pretty close to town anyway, so it wasn't all bad." The professor seemed to buy her reasoning, And although she was upset about the bike, she was really thinking more about Ash.

Finally, they arrived at Birch's house. There, his wife greeted them all and instinctively offered food, which the group unanimously declined. But it was what happened next that hinted to May that Ash's feelings for her went beyond just interest.

"Honey," Mrs. Birch said to her husband, "I thought you said that only two were staying over- We're a room short!"

The professor looked at them apologetically. "I suppose I forgot to mention that May was staying over too... I'm so sorry."

"May, please excuse my husband. He's been so caught up in his work lately that he's been forgetting things... But you're welcome to sleep on the couch, if you want."

"It's no problem. That sounds great, thank you." May said politely. The truth was that she hated sleeping on couches, and that she was actually really looking forward to being well rested for tomorrow. That was when Ash got her attention.

"Hey May,"

"Yes, Ash?"

"You could take my room, if you'd like."

"Really?" May heard the excitement in her voice and quickly turned it around. "But... No, it's okay. I'll sleep down here. You should get the bed."

"No, really! I like couches better, anyway." Ash said.

May really didn't believe him, but she could tell that Ash wasn't going to take no for an answer, so she accepted. While Ash went to take a quick shower, May and Brock settled into their rooms.

"Goodnight." Brock said to her from across the hall.

"'Night." She said.

While Brock closed his bedroom door, May was so tired that she immediately took off her bandana, got into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning May awoke before anybody else in the house, long before the sun came up. But since it was her first day as a traveling pokemon trainer, she was too excited to go back to bed- a first for her. She sat up in bed, stretched and put her bandana back on over her hair.

"Well," she said to herself, "the early bird catches the worm, right?"

With that, she grabbed her pokeball with Torchic in it and made her way downstairs. There, she was stopped at the sight of a sleeping Ash. His hat on the floor beside the couch, and Pikachu resting comfortably in his arms, Ash was in a deep, peaceful sleep. May was surprised to see that he was even more attractive without his hat on. She smiled and walked over to them. She knew it was kind of creepy to watch a person sleep, but she wanted to get a little closer to him_. He's such a good person, I can already tell._ She thought to herself. _Seeing how much he loves this Pikachu, and how quickly he'll stick up for his friends._ She smiled. "Sleep tight, Ash." She said softly before heading out the door for some early training. She couldn't be sure, but she thought as she walked out the door that she heard Ash say her name in his sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Guys. I was kind of on the fence while writing this one, so please review. **

**I hope you enjoy**

**-StartersoverLegends**

**Chapter 3**: _The Adventure Begins_

"Ash! Hey Ash!" May practically shouted in a slumbering Ash Ketchum's face. "Wake. Up! We have to get going right now!" Despite her best efforts, the boy simply rolled over in his sleep, leaving May discouraged. "Ugh!" She turned to Brock, who stood sporting a cook's apron and whipping up breakfast for the group. "Is he always like this?" she asked.

"Yep, pretty much." Brock smiled over at her while mixing together the contents of a ceramic bowl.

"But we have to get moving!" May said. Eager to start her adventure, she could not comprehend how someone could be sleeping so soundly. "Torchic and I are already packed and everything!"

"Just relax," Brock said, looking back down at the bowl. "You know, Ash is usually like that too- but sleep is a strong rival to his sense of adventure."

"Hey, I like to sleep in too you know!" May challenged him, "But with a day like today waiting for us, I just couldn't close my eyes … Just thinking about all of the places we'll go, and all of the pokemon, and all of the _shopping_," May's eyes lit up as she said the word.

"I know how you feel." Brock looked back up at her. "My first day as a pokemon trainer had the same effect on me as it does you."

"Really?" she asked, calming a bit.

"It sure did." He said, smiling as he recalled the memory. "And knowing Ash, he was far more excited than even both of us combined."

"Then how can he be asleep? He's got a whole new region to explore!"

"You have to keep in mind- Ash has been traveling for a long time. By now I'm sure he fully understands the power of a good night's sleep."

"Oh, brother." May sighed, looking back down at Ash. He was still as cute to her as ever, but with a long-awaited adventure waiting, May's first priority was waking him up.

"Luckily," Brock continued, "I know just the thing to get Ash up." With that, he set the newly prepared food down on the dining table. "Breakfast is ready!" In a flash Ash and Pikachu bolted up and quickly took their places at the table, licking their lips.

"Wow," May said smiling, "He really does love eating doesn't he?"

"That's for sure." Brock agreed.

"Brock's cooking is the best!" Ash said, looking up at her past a plate of breakfast sandwiches and a pot of stew.

"I guess so," May said while taking a seat and inspecting the meal. Little did she know how seriously the other two took the subject.

"No, it is!" Ash said, stopping in mid bite to prove his point.

"Here, try this." He handed her a breakfast sandwich while Brock set her down a bowl of stew. After sampling a taste of each, her face lit up.

"Oh, yummy!" she said, now scarfing the food down- again matching Ash's impressive eating speed.

"That's some of my World Famous Brock Stew." He smiled down at her.

"More please!" Both Ash and May said together, holding their empty bowls out to Brock.

He chuckled. "I guess I'm gonna have to start bringing more ingredients along if I have you two to feed."

May again had a spark of self-consciousness about the way that she was eating, but with food this good, who could blame her? _Besides_, she thought, _Ash doesn't even seem to notice- he's too busy eating just like me! _After the two had finished eating, golden sunlight filtered in through the window onto the two teens, who were now leaning back in their chairs satisfied. Ash looked over at May to see that she was just as beautiful as the night before- with no signs of bedhead or heavy eyes. He smiled.

"Hey May,"

She opened her eyes and looked over at him.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go outside for a practice battle? Me and Pikachu are rearing to go, aren't we buddy?"

Pikachu looked up at its trainer and gave an energetic "Pika Pika!" to show its agreement.

"Alright!" Ash smiled at its friend, then looked back to May. "So how about it?"

May felt conflicted at this. Although she really wanted to spend some time with Ash, She had never actually battled before and didn't want to look stupid in front of him. But seeing as he was looking at her expectantly, she smiled and agreed.

"Ok, but don't go easy on me just because I'm a beginner!" she said as they ran out the door, Pikachu at Ash's heels.

"Wait!" Brock called after them. "Aren't you going to help me clean up?" Seeing as they were already outside, he sighed and began to clean it up himself. "Kids these days," He joked under his breath.

"Smells delicious, I'll take some please!" Professor Birch entered the room, obviously following the scent. Brock sighed again.

"Coming right up."

Meanwhile, out in the yard the two trainers faced each other. While Ash and Pikachu looked towards May with looks of determination and trust, (a result of so many battles together,) May was getting steadily more intimidated. _Wow, _She thought, _My first battle and it's against someone who's been doing it for years._ She cursed herself in her head for telling him not to go easy on her.

"Are you ready May?" He called across the yard to her.

"Yeah, just a sec!" she called back. _I guess I should send out Torchic now, right? _She thought. "Okay Torchic, I choose you!"

She threw the pokeball, which opened and released the small orange pokemon out onto the grass.

"Torchic, Torchic Tor!" It greeted her, dancing around happily.

"Alright," Ash called out, "I'll let you have the first move."

"Um… Okay." She said. _But what are Torchic's attacks?_ She pondered for a second. She remembered her pokedex saying something about an ember attack.

"Torchic, use ember?" She said to the small pokemon, which then opened its mouth and sent a group of small red streaks flying at Pikachu. _Oh, I did it! _May thought happily.

"Pikachu, dodge it!" Ash called out and Pikachu bounded out of the way of the tiny flames with ease.

_What? You can do that? _May strained her brain to remember the rules of battling. For years she had thought that her little brother Max's random battling facts were annoying, but now she really wished that he was there with her.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash called out,

"Pika…" A bright yellow orb surrounded the pokemon as it gathered energy. "-Chu!" With that, a sharp beam of electricity arched at Torchic with impressive speed.

"Torchic!" May desperately looked for a response to the attack. "Get out of the way!" Torchic lunged to its left, dodging the brunt of the attack, but in turn hitting the ground hard. "Torchic!" She shouted to her pokemon, which was struggling to get up.

"Alright, Pikachu…" Ash continued, "Quick Attack, now!"

As Pikachu sprinted headfirst at her Torchic, May panicked. "Torchic, No!" With that she jumped between the oncoming pokemon and her Torchic, meaning to shield it from the attack. Pikachu, too into the battle to have noticed, barreled on.

"Pikachu, stop!" Ash cried out with all that he had. Pikachu's ears perked up, confused. Then it saw May and quickly veered out of the way. Ash watched May fall to her knees with Torchic held tightly in her arms. _This is bad!_ He thought, running over to them as fast as he could, fearing that Torchic was hurt. As he approached the commotion, he realized that Torchic looked ok, with nothing more than a few scratches. May, on the other hand, was gently weeping- her shoulders shaking and a tear running down her cheek. Ash crouched down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders to comfort her as she cried. Sensing him, May rested her head against his chest, trying to get a hold of herself. Honestly, she wasn't even exactly sure why she was crying.

"May…" Ash said in as soothing a voice as he could muster, "Torchic's going to be fine. It's ok."

"I know," She said between sniffles. "I just got so scared for it." She thought of how idiotic she must look to him, crying over a perfectly fine pokemon. "I'm so pathetic," She said lightly, not even meaning to say it aloud.

"What?" Ash looked at her, surprised. "No you're not! You did great out there!"

She looked up at him, obviously not understanding what he was trying to say. Looking down at her, with teardrops hanging off of her eyelashes, Ash felt terrible. _You should have gone easier on her!_ He attacked himself. _She's just started pokemon battling_. He gave a sigh and helped her to her feet, still clutching a confused Torchic in her hands.

"Look May," He said to her, "It's something that every new pokemon trainer goes through."

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and looked back at him. "Really?"

"Absolutely. I even went through it with Pikachu. You don't want for them to get hurt,"

"Exactly," She replied, "If anything ever happened to Torchic, I don't know what I'd do."

"But you have to have trust in them."

"Trust?" She looked down at her pokemon, still looking up at her with innocent eyes.

"You would be amazed at what a pokemon can do when it's in trouble," Ash continued, "But if you have trust in your pokemon, then it will always be ok- no matter what."

"Really?"

"Definitely!" Ash said, attempting to comfort her with a smile. "I can't tell you how many times me and Pikachu have gotten into trouble. But I always know that we'll be just fine as long as we're together."

May sniffed and smiled. "Thanks, Ash." She said, wiping her eyes again.

"Hey, no problem."

Just then, Brock stepped out onto the porch along with Professor Birch and Mrs. Birch.

"Alright, I think we're ready to go." Brock said to the two trainers. "I've got all of the supplies, and the Professor even told me a shortcut to get to the next town."

"Alright!" Ash said restlessly.

"Sounds good!" May agreed.

And with that Ash, May, Brock and Pikachu said their thanks to their hosts and waved goodbye. As they turned from the Birch yard onto a dirt road, Ash spoke up.

"So what's this shortcut you were telling us about?"

"Instead of going through the woods on the main path and passing through two towns, we can cut through directly to Petalburg City." Brock Replied.

May sighed. "We won't be staying there long, will we? I was really looking forward to exploring cities that I haven't seen yet."

"No, but it will be a nice place to rest for a while, and for Ash to see the Petalburg Gym."

May let out a groan. "You mean I'm going back home already?"

Brock smiled over at her. "Just for a bit. Then it's straight through the woods from there to Rustboro." Suddenly, Brock's smile turned into a look of concern as he saw that her eyes were red, still recovering from the scare of her battle with Ash. "Hey May, is something wrong?"

May realized that her face probably still had signs of crying leftover on it and sighed of embarrassment. Luckily, Ash answered for her.

"It's nothing Brock. May just learned something about pokemon battling today."

Brock took the hint and dropped the subject. As the trio and Pikachu walked the main trail through the forest, something jumped out into the path before them. The group gave a startled flinch.

"What is that?" Ash asked as he pulled out his pokedex.

_Poochyena_, The machine stated in its electronic voice_, The Bite pokemon. Due to its persistent nature, Poochyena will chase down prey long distances, while always obeying a pack member that outranks it. Poochyena is the pre-evolved form of Mightyena. _

"A Poochyena, Huh?" Brock said as he looked down at the small canine. It loudly snarled and growled at the travelers. "Hey Ash, it looks like it wants a battle!"

"Alright!" Ash said, with Pikachu at the ready. "If it's a battle it wants, then it's a battle it gets!"

"No, hold on Ash!" May said to him.

"Huh? What is it May?" He asked, relaxing on his battle stance.

"Well I was thinking… Could I take this battle?" She asked shyly. Something had come over her, and she just had to do this. Maybe it was to prove something to Ash. Or maybe it was to prove something to herself.

Ash smiled. "Go right ahead." As he stepped back, May took his place and faced her opponent. _I have to win this._ She thought to herself, a look of determination on her face. _This battle is mine! _

"Torchic, come on out!" She shouted as she cast the ball, releasing her Torchic, who did its usual dance out of joy. As the two pokemon squared off, May was thinking hard about what strategies she would use for the battle. But suddenly, she was cut off as the Poochyena launched itself at Torchic, gnashing it's fangs.

"Torchic, dodge to the right!" May found herself saying without even thinking about it. Following her command, Torchic dove out of the way of the opponent, which was now presenting a perfect attack opening.

"Use ember, Torchic!" She called out, and Torchic complied by shooting the streaks of flame out of it's beak and right into Poochyena's side, sending it flying. May, perhaps shocked that she got in a successful hit, cried out to her pokemon. "Yeah, that's the way! Good job Torchic!" But as Torchic turned and happily replied to its trainer, the Poochyena had gotten up and began a Quick Attack move, launching itself at Torchic. "Look out!" May called out, but too late. The attack hit hard and sent the chick-like pokemon rolling. May felt the same panicked emotion that she had during her battle with Ash, and almost ran over to Torchic, who was now struggling to its feet. _No!_ She thought,_ Just remember what Ash said about trusting your pokemon and it'll be ok! _With that, she regained her composure and took a breath.

"Alright, Torchic I know you can do it!" She shouted out to her pokemon, still struggling to get to its feet. But at hearing the reassuring words of its trainer, Torchic gathered all of its strength and jumped up into its battle stance.

"Torchic Tor!" It shot a happy look at May.

_Wow_, Ash thought to himself, _She's doing great! _As Ash, Brock and Pikachu cheered her on, May made plans to finish up the battle.

"Alright Torchic, lets finish this! Use Scratch attack now!" As the Poochyena stood stunned that Torchic had recovered from its attack so quickly, Torchic dove at it and lashed out with its small talons. The Poochyena rolled from the attack, but quickly jumped to its feet. But just as May was beginning to worry about how strong the foe actually was, the pokemon fell to its side, KO'd. A moment passed where May wasn't sure what had just happened, and just stood there staring at the defeated pokemon as it lumbered back into the brush that it had come from.

"Alright May, you did it!" Brock cheered.

"You won!" Ash called to her.

"I… won?" That was when it sunk in. "I won! Torchic, we did it!" She cried out. In the excitement of the moment, May plowed into a still cheering Ash, nearly knocking him over in a tight embrace. The hug had caught Ash off guard, but he quickly returned it. The two stood there like that for several seconds, while Brock, Pikachu and Torchic watched them, confused.

"Pika pika?" Pikachu asked, head tilted to the side.

"I don't know." Brock agreed.

Finally, May opened her eyes and realized that she was holding tightly to Ash. Truly she had not meant to, but in the excitement of the win it was obvious that her feelings toward him had come out. But as he hugged her back, head on her shoulder, she realized that she was glad that she had.

"Guys?" Brock asked the two, utterly astonished.

That simple word brought them back down to earth. And in embarrassment, both quickly released each other.

"Shall we continue moving?" Brock asked

"Yeah, of course." Both said, faces red from embarrassment. So the group carried on down the main trail. Mostly in silence, for obvious reasons.

"Alright, this is where we cut off of the main trail." Brock said, gesturing at a small cut in the brush.

"Are you sure?" May asked. "It looks kind of overgrown."

"Trust me," Brock said with a smile. "The Professor gave me these directions himself."

But after about an hour of what seemed like endless walking in place, the group had started to question the 'shortcut'.

"Brock," May said, not one for walking in circles through brush, "Are you sure you know where we are?"

"Absolutely," Brock said, staring at a map intensely.

There was an audible sigh of relief among the group.

"Not." He finished, defeated.

The sigh turned quickly into a groan.

"You mean we're… Lost?" May asked, worry written on her face.

"Yep," Brock said, setting his backpack down on the ground. "Who wants lunch?"

"Lunch?" May asked, exasperated. "How can you worry about eating when we're hopelessly lost out in the middle of nowhere?"

"Just relax," Brock calmly went on, pulling out pots and vegetables from his pack. "This sort of thing happens to Ash and I all the time."

May looked over to Ash, who was also strangely calm. "He's right."

"So," May went on, "What usually happens when you two get lost?"

"Simple." Ash replied. "We get something to eat and then somehow find our way out."

"Oh, ok." May said quietly, sitting down on the grass. But Ash could see the worry on her face.

"Hey, don't worry about it. While Brock is cooking lunch, I'll look around for a way out."

May relaxed a little. "Sounds like a great idea." Brock said to him.

With that, Ash set off into the woods with Pikachu, leaving Brock and May to tend to lunch. In his mind, he was playing and rewinding the moment that May had hugged him. He had been hugged by girls before, like Misty for example. But those had always been friendly hugs, and along with that he had never felt a connection like he did when May had hugged him. It seemed to him that for a minute time had stood still and it was just him and her. Or was that just him being cheesy? After walking for several minutes through bushes and ferns, Ash and Pikachu found themselves in a small clearing in the brush, with a picture-perfect pond housing lilies and cattails with a small creek running into it.

"Wow, Pikachu. Check it out." He said, slowly turning in a circle to take in the whole field.

"Pika Pikachu," Pikachu replied, mirroring his movements. Along with the pond, the grass was laced with wildflowers of every color, gently swaying back and forth in the breeze.

"Hey… What's this?" Ash asked as he walked up on a small wooden structure in the middle of the field. "It almost looks like a shrine," He blew on it to remove some of the dust, but underestimated how dirty it was and received a dust cloud to the face. As he coughed into the bend of his arm, a strong wind whipped through the field- almost knocking him over. He planted his feet and leaned against the wind, but just when he did it subsided, causing him to fall into the grass.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu bounded over to him, checking to see if he was alright.

"I'm fine, buddy." Ash smiled at his friend as he got up to his feet. "That was weird." He said, referring to the sudden burst of wind and looking up at the sky. As he did this, Pikachu's ears suddenly perked up.

"Pika pika?"

"Hm?" Ash asked, looking down at the now fully alert pokemon. Suddenly Pikachu spun around, facing the pond.

"Pika! Pikachu!" It said, getting Ash's attention.

"What is it Pikach- Ah!" Ash jumped back in alarm, caught off guard at the sight of a person kneeling down by the pond, facing away from him. _Nobody was there just a moment ago, _Ash thought. From the back, he couldn't tell who the person was, just that it was a girl due to the fact that she wore a plain dress- more like a gown, actually.

"Hello?" Ash asked, walking over to her. "Can you help me?"

Suddenly the girl stood and turned to face Ash. She had long, red hair and seemingly golden eyes- something that he had never seen before.

"Sorry to bother you, but my friends and I are kind of lost and I was wondering if you knew the way to Petalburg City?"

The girl said nothing in response, besides tilting her head at him.

"I'm sorry, did I say something?" He asked, confused at why she was just staring at him.

She walked over and inspected him carefully, circling him and seemed very interested for some reason. Ash was really confused now.

"My friends… They're off that way in the woods," Ash tried to say. She stopped, facing him and brought her face close to his. Less than a foot apart, she stared straight into his eyes.

"Um… I could get them, if you'd like?"

She took a step back and sat down on the grass, looking up at him patiently.

"Great, I'll be right back," He said. "Come on, Pikachu!"

With that he walked back toward where May and Brock were, following the path he had left by trampling the brush.

"Hey Pikachu, she seemed a bit strange, didn't she?" He asked his friend after he was sure he was out of earshot of the clearing.

"Pika pi," Pikachu agreed.

_I wonder if we can trust her,_ Ash thought to himself. After walking a bit farther, Ash and Pikachu smelled the unmistakable scent of Brock's amazing cooking. Finding the group was a walk in the park after that.

As Ash and Pikachu entered into the small clearing that their friends were resting in, they were immediately greeted by the two.

"There you are, Ash. Dig in, lunch is ready." Brock said.

"Did you find the way out?" May asked hopefully.

"No, but I met a girl in a clearing off that way," Ash nodded in the direction he had come from. "I thought that maybe she knew."

"That's great," May said, looking relieved. "Let's go!"

"Ok, but she hasn't said a single thing to me or Pikachu yet." Ash thought back. "All she did was stare at us."

"Hm…" Brock thought for a moment. "Well, it's the best thing that we have to go on. Lead the way."

Ash led them back into the clearing, at which both were amazed.

"Wow, it's beautiful!" May said, taking in all of the different flowers and growth.

"But where's the girl?" Brock asked, looking around. "There's no one here."

"I don't get it," Ash started. "She was here a few minutes ago."

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu said loudly.

"Huh?" Everyone looked in the direction of the little mouse pokemon's attention. There, sitting on an old tree stump by the forests' edge sat the girl.

"See? There she is," Ash said. Brock, however, was already running over to her.

"Hi, My name's Brock, and I have to say that the flowers in this field are nothing compared to your beauty!" He said on one knee, Looking up at her. May looked confused at this.

"Better get used to it," Ash started.

"Does he do that a lot?" she asked.

"All the time."

The girl, however acted as though she hadn't even heard him. She tilted her head, and then looked over his shoulder at Ash.

"You don't even have to speak for me to know that you're the one I've been looking for," Brock went on. "Your eyes tell me everything that I need to know."

After he said this, the girl simply stood up and walked over to Ash and May, leaving Brock where he was, still going on.

"Huh?" He realized that she was gone and looked over to see her circling Ash and May, Inspecting them closely.

"See," Ash said to May "This is what she did before too."

Finally, the girl stopped studying them and stepped back. May let out a breath.

"Hey, so can you show us the way out, now?" Ash asked her. Right as the girl started to open her mouth, a sound kind of like a gunshot came from the other direction. As the group turned to look in the direction of the sound, A powerful wind hit the trainers. Whipping them, the group covered their faces.

"What's going on?" May shouted above the roaring sound of the wind.

"Ash?" Brock called over.

"I don't know! This happened earlier too!"

And with that, the wind settled back and everything was calm.

"That was odd." Brock said, looking up to the sky.

"Hey are you Ok?" Ash turned to the girl, who was looking up with a concerned expression. Quickly, she grabbed Ash's hand and began running through the woods.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" Ash shouted as she pulled him past trees and brush. Despite her appearance, she was surprisingly strong.

"Ash!" He could hear Brock and May calling after him.

"Over here!" He yelled in their direction. "Follow my voice!" _What is her deal?_ Ash thought to himself. _Where is she taking me?_ As he thought it she stopped abruptly, sending Ash reeling due to the dramatic drop in speed.

"Hey!" Ash said, once his head had stopped spinning. "What was that abou-" He had turned around to see that the girl was no longer there. "But there's no way…" Ash said to himself softly, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.

"Ash!" He could hear his friends calling in the distance. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" He called, then looked around. _Why would she take me here?_ He thought while scratching his head. Then he saw it. Through the trees he could just make out the shape of buildings in the distance. "No way," Ash said, astonished. Finally Brock, May and Pikachu crashed through the brush, completely out of breath.

"Where…did you… go..?" Brock asked through coughs,

"And how… fast?" May asked between sharp gasps.

"I don't know," Ash said, picking up an exhausted Pikachu. "But look." He pointed at the buildings through the foliage.

"Does that look familiar, May?" Brock asked her. May couldn't believe her eyes.

"It's Petalburg,"

The group marched through what little forest was left between them and the city, going over what had just happened.

"I told you," Ash said as they stepped out onto the freshly mowed grass that divided the city and forest. "She just grabbed me and dragged me over there."

"Something's not right…" Brock said, thinking hard. "When me and May turned around, you were gone. That means that she would have to have been moving pretty fast."

"I'll say," Ash mumbled. "I went along on the ride."

"Did she say anything to you?" Brock asked him.

"Not a word." Ash responded. "Hm…"

"I think I know who can help us with this mystery." May said, smiling.

"Who?" Both said together.

"Just follow me." May led the two through the city streets that comprised her hometown, towards a large wooden building.

"Are we going to the Gym, May?" Ash asked her, recognizing the Pokeball symbol above the door.

"Yup," She said, Opening the glass door and walking in with Ash and Brock right before her.

"Hey, Dad!" May called through the building while Ash and Brock marveled at its impressive construction.

"May?" A familiar voice came from an adjacent room. "Where are you?"

"In the Training Room," May answered. "And I brought some friends!"

From out of a doorway came Norman, accompanied by a young Zigzagoon. "Ah, there you are!" The gym leader greeted them as he walked in. "Ash, Brock, It's good to finally meet you in person." He said with a smile.

"Yeah you too," agreed Ash.

"Nice to see you, sir" Brock greeted.

"May," Norman started, "I thought that you would be out on your adventure by now, exploring Hoen."

"Well, we were when we had a bit of a detour." She replied. "I was wondering if you could help us with something?"

"Of course," Norman replied, "But i'm busy training right now… Hey, why don't you kids hang around for the night and we could talk about it over dinner?"

"That would be great!" Ash answered with a smile, happy to be able to spend some time in the Gym.

"Thanks!" Brock agreed.

May simply sighed. As Brock went to help May's mom with dinner preparations, Ash and May waited in the Gym.

"So it must be cool to have a Gym Leader for a dad, huh?" He asked her.

"I guess," She said. Ash could tell that something was on her mind.

"What's wrong, May?"

She looked over at him, a look of extreme boredom in her eyes.

"I just really wanted to go shopping today," She sighed.

"Well," Ash started, "I did see some stores on the way over here, and we have a few hours before dinner."

May's eyes immediately lit up. "Really? You'll go with me?"

Ash gave a nervous chuckle. "Sure."

"Great!" She said happily as she grabbed him by the hand and ran him out of the Gym doors and to the nearest department store. _Oh boy, _Ash thought to himself as she dragged him from store to store_, What did I get myself into this time? _Finally, they stopped at a clothing store, where Ash sat on a bench while May ran in and out of the dressing rooms with different outfits.

"Oh, maybe this one! But this one is more in fashion right now… I can't believe that they have this!" she would say as she ran back and forth. Right when Ash got so bored that he thought he was going to fall asleep, she hit him with a question he had not expected.

"Ash," She said, poking her head out of the curtains at him.

"Yeah?" He asked, thinking about the Gym and all of the battles he must be missing.

"Could you tell me what you think about this one?"

"Sure," Ash said, not really paying attention.

She stepped out of the dressing room in a bikini, the last thing he had imagined that she would have come out in.

"Since we're going to be doing a lot of traveling to cities by the beach," She said, posing for him, "I need the perfect bathing suit."

Ash nearly choked, and blushed embarrassedly.

"So what do you think?" She asked, in a different pose.

"You look… Great," He said, trying hard not to stare.

"Thanks! I guess I'll buy it, then!" She said happily as she skipped back into the changing room. Ash let out a breath. _Shopping is hard,_ he thought to himself. After all of the shopping was done, Ash and May finally arrived back at the Gym, Ash carrying most of her new clothes in oversized shopping bags.

"You guys are just in time!" Brock said as Ash set down the bags. "Dinner is ready."

After the group, containing May's Parents, Ash, Brock, and Pikachu had finished eating and praised Brock for the great meal, the subject of what happened in the woods came up.

"So tell me what it is that you need my help with," Norman asked the trainers.

After the three had all filled him in on the girl, the clearing, the disappearances and everything else, Norman sat back with an intense look on his face, like he was thinking really hard about something.

"So what do you think it is, Dad?" May asked her father.

"I know exactly what it is," Norman said, "But I just can't believe it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hopefully this chapter will help to clarify where the story is at right now. Sorry, not a whole lot of romance in this chapter, but I'm planning on changing that very soon.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys like it and as usual please review.**

**Thanks,**

**StartersoverLegends**

**Chapter 4**: _Answers and Assumptions_

"_So tell me what it is that you need my help with," Norman asked the trainers._

_After the three had all filled him in on the girl, the clearing, the disappearances and everything else, Norman sat back with an intense look on his face, like he was thinking really hard about something._

"_So what do you think it is, Dad?" May asked her father._

"_I know exactly what it is," Norman said, "But I just can't believe it."_

After the words had left the Gym leader's lips, everyone at the table turned to look at Ash, who was being stared at squarely by Norman. Ash's face turned a light red.

"What?" He asked, looking around at everyone. Norman realized that he was staring, and quickly stood up.

"Would you kids follow me, please?" He asked, turning and walking out of the dining room. May got up and followed her father, leaving Ash, Brock and Pikachu sitting at the table with May's mother. Max wasn't there- he was staying over at his grandparent's house for the evening. Ash exchanged a look with Brock, who shrugged. With that, the two stood and followed May out into the hallway. From there they passed several rooms that looked to be for training. Finally, they reached the main combat room, where Norman faced any trainers who wished to challenge the gym. Against the back wall of the colossal room was a door, which Norman was unlocking as they walked in. Ash and Brock marveled at how big the room was, while may walked through uninterested. She had been around this Gym since she was a kid.

"In here," Norman said before entering the now open door.

As the group of teens and Pikachu entered the room they realized that it was an office. Against the wall opposite to the door rested a large wooden bookshelf, a formal background to a large wooden desk and executive chair where the Gym leader took care of paperwork and spent any free time away from battling.

"Have a seat," Norman gestured to a couple of small wooden chairs that rested against a wall. As Brock dragged the chairs over and set them up so that the three could face Norman's desk, the Gym leader was going through the bookshelf.

"Ah, here it is." He said as he pulled a large book out of its place amongst the others. He set the book down with a heavy _thunk _on to the desk, sending a puff of dust flying up. As the trainers coughed and waved away the cloud, Norman opened the book and began skimming through its contents.

"Woah," Ash said once the dust had cleared. "That looks like a really old book."

"It is," Norman replied, still flipping through the weathered pages. "Over a hundred years."

"Wow," The young trainers said in awe.

"Wait a second…" May started, looking at the book. "I've never seen that one before. How long have you had it?"

"Since long before you were born." He looked up at his daughter. "May, do you remember all of the stories I used to tell you as a kid about Latias and Latios?"

"Yeah," May replied while she thought back to it. "Why?"

"Well I got everything that I told you from this book."

"So that _is _a book on Latias and Latios," Brock said.

"No, it is _the _book on them." Norman said, a look of concentration on his face as he read an introduction to a chapter.

"I received this book from a man who had dedicated his life to learn more about the two pokemon." Norman continued. "It had been passed down to him from his father, who also passed down an obsession with gaining knowledge on the subject. But as the man was growing old and not suited for pursuing them any longer, he entrusted it to me, an enthusiastic young trainer."

"Wow," Ash said. "So does that book tell about the shrine,"

"Or the clearing," May continued the thought.

"Or the girl?" Brock asked hopefully.

Norman looked up from the book, satisfied with the page he had found.

"Well, the book is incomplete." Norman said. "However, it does have most of what you mentioned."

"Like what?" May asked.

In response, he turned the book so that the trainers could see it.

"Look familiar?" He asked. On the page was a hand-drawn picture of a beautiful clearing surrounded by dark woods. Standing in the center of the field was a beautiful wooden structure, obviously hand crafted and brand new.

"Is that what the shrine used to look like?" Ash asked, scratching his head. "It was kind of worn-down looking."

"But otherwise, that looks exactly like what we saw." Brock said, studying the image.

"Even the flowers are in the same place," May observed.

"The reason that everything looks the same," Norman went on, "But the shrine has begun to fall apart is because it was man-made. The clearing that Ash found was what the original author of this book calls the Field of Renewal."

"The Field of Renewal?" May asked, "Why is it called that?"

"That is an interesting story, actually. Read this." He turned the page and pointed out a paragraph.

_As you can see by my picture, the construction of the Field of Renewal is complete. Satisfied with my work on the shrine, my thanks to Latias and Latios for saving me from the dense forest as a child, I have made a difficult decision. Although it may contradict my research, I want for this spot to be a place where the two can rest without worry of being caught off-guard. I have decided to use the phenomenal power of my pokemon, Alakazam to create a mirage. The only people who will be able to find the Field will be those with pure intentions, so that if anyone should find themselves lost in the woods as I was, they can rest here and maybe even receive the aid of Latias and Latios._

"Woah," Ash and May said together.

"Heavy." Brock agreed.

"And as for the girl," Norman turned the page to another drawn image, this one with someone on it, a girl with long red hair and beautiful golden eyes. Brock nearly knocked the other two over to inspect it.

"You found a picture of her!" Brock said excitedly. He had not yet put the pieces of the puzzle together, as everyone else in the room had.

"Pika pika?" Pikachu said as it rested on Ash's shoulder.

"Do you think we should tell him?" Ash asked May.

"Let's give him a minute," She said, looking somewhat amused.

Finally, Brock looked up.

"But wait… So that means,"

"Yep." Norman started. "Meet Latias."

As Brock slumped in his chair, discouraged, Ash and May scooted closer to the desk to inspect the book.

"Wow," Ash said softly as he stared at the drawing. "I met Latias and didn't even know it." He felt a strange mixture of emotions, like he was happy that he had seen her but was upset that he didn't make the most out of the encounter. Kind of like having a winning lottery ticket, just to realize that you had already thrown it away. May saw the burdened look on his face and attempted to comfort him.

"At least you met her, right? That's something that not a lot of people get to do."

"Yeah, I guess." Ash replied. Norman saw a chance to help him feel better.

"You know what, Ash?" He said.

"Huh?" Ash said, looking up.

"In my youth, I would travel the world searching for Latias and Latios. But despite all of my years of hard work and research, I never received anything more than blurry sightings." He took a breath. "Latias decided to show herself to _you_ Ash. She chose _you_."

A small smile appeared on Ash's face as he realized that his friends were right- he was really lucky to have found her. But Norman wasn't done cheering him up yet.

"Look here," He said to Ash and May as he turned to another page. Brock was still leaning back in his chair, silently pouting. "Read this." He pointed out another entry to them.

_Today I met with the family of a boy whose life was supposedly saved by Latios._ It read. _Apparently, the boy had encountered Latias before- leading me to believe that the two had found his heart worthy. Up until now it was thought that someone with a pure heart merely had the opportunity to meet the mythical pokemon. But as the boy was saved from a precariously dangling root off of the side of a cliff by Latios and safely delivered to the ground, I'm now starting to think that the two pokemon may actually watch over those deemed to have pure hearts._

"Oh, cool!" May said, smiling at Ash. "Ash has a guardian."

"But May, so do you!" He said to her. "Latias seemed just as interested in you as in me!"

"That could be," Norman said, smiling up at them. "But there is another possibility."

"What is it?" they asked.

"It is said that Latias and Latios are also exceptional at reading how people feel toward each other."

At hearing this, Ash and May both blushed, avoiding eye contact with each other. Suddenly, May remembered something and spoke up.

"But wait, there's still something we don't know!" she said to her father.

"What is it May?" Ash asked her.

"Remember that really loud sound we heard?" She inquired.

"Oh yeah! What do you think it was?" Ash asked Norman.

"Well, it seems to me that what you had heard was Latios."

"Latios?" May and Ash asked together.

"As I'm sure you remember," Norman continued, "Latios is capable of flying at incredible speeds."

"Oh, I get it!" May said, perking up. "That sound was like a sonic boom!"

"Oh yeah," Ash agreed.

"Exactly, May." Norman finished. "Or more precisely, Latios broke the sound barrier, making that loud crack that you heard."

"That would also explain the wind!" Brock said, rejoining the conversation. "Latios must have flown right over our heads to warn Latias!"

Norman nodded. "Precisely." With that, he glanced up at a clock on the wall. "Oh my, look at the time." The talk had lasted for hours, although none of them had noticed it.

"You kids must be exhausted after a day like that," He said to the trainers.

"Now that you mention it," May said between a yawn. "I could use some sleep."

"Yeah, I'm worn out." Ash concurred. "How about you, Pikachu?"

"Pika pika…" It said, eyes heavy.

"I'll tell you what," Norman smiled at them. "You could stay here for the night. May could take her room and you two can split between the guest room and Max's room." The group unanimously agreed.

As Brock took the Guest room in the Gym, Ash and May went upstairs to their rooms, located on opposite sides of the hallway from each other.

"Goodnight May." Ash said to her as he split to the right.

"Goodnight Ash." She replied, smiling and going left.

But despite how tired they both were, neither of them could get a wink of sleep for about an hour after they had settled into bed. Both were thinking about the other, Ash imagining May sleeping peacefully in bed with her bandana resting on the night stand and remembering what Norman had said.

"_It is said that Latias and Latios are also exceptional at reading how people feel toward each other."_

_Does that mean that May likes me too? _He thought, staring at the ceiling while Pikachu slept on his chest. He thought back to when she had hugged him after her battle with the Poochyena, about the warmth that came off of her as they held tightly to each other- ash smiled as he recalled the memory.

Meanwhile, May was thinking back to the moment too. She felt a warm feeling grow inside of her as she recalled their embrace, how he had returned her affection so quickly and how happy she felt in the moment. Then she remembered what her Dad had said bout Latias sensing how people felt toward eachother. She smiled in the dark, the only light coming in slants through the blinds as a result of the giant full moon that loomed in the sky.

"Oh Ash," She whispered as Torchic rested on the bed next to her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Just finished this chapter and I think it's my favorite so far. For those of you who have been reading and wondering "Where is the Advanceshipping in this story!?", here it is.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5**: _Hero_

"Hey, May. It's time to wake up." A voice said to May as she lay in bed. But as exhausted as she was the night before, along with how little sleep she got due to reoccurring thoughts about Ash, she had no choice but to refuse.

"It's too early!" She said, rolling over onto her back and pulling her pillow over her head. There was a pause for a moment, and then the muffled voice continued.

"But I thought that you wanted to go shopping in Rustboro city? You can't go shopping until we get there."

This was a good motive, but May was still more interested in sleep. She rolled over again, onto her side so that she was facing away from the speaker. She heard a sigh. A warm hand rested on her shoulder and lightly shook her.

"Come on," The voice continued. "Please?"

With a groan, May removed the pillow from over her face and turned to look at her tormenter. It was a boy with long dark hair sticking out from behind his pokeball cap. He smiled at her, his hazelnut eyes gleaming as golden light fluttered onto them through the window. She smiled.

"Good morning," She said.

"Does that mean you're going to get up?" He asked.

She rolled onto her back again and put a finger to her chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe," She said in a cutesy way, messing with him. He sighed again.

"Well, then I guess I'll eat all of your breakfast." He said, standing up and making for the door.

"Ash, you'd better not!" She called after him as he ran out of her room, Pikachu right behind him as always. May sighed, a smile on her face and sat up in bed.

"Good morning, Torchic." She said to the comfortable-looking pokemon that rested on her lap.

"Tor- chiiiiik," It said as it stretched out. May giggled and got up. Realizing that Ash could be halfway done with her food by now, she quickly changed out of her blue nightgown and into her usual clothes. Finishing the look with her bandana and checking how she looked in the mirror, May exited the room and ran down the stairs. Immediately, she was greeted by the amazing fragrance that resulted of Brock's cooking. Looking over at the dining table, her worst nightmares were realized.

"No!" She yelled as she ran to the table, where ash was stuffing his face with all sorts of delicious-looking foods. "That's not _my_ breakfast, is it?" She asked, a twinge of heartbreak in her voice.

"Nah," Brock said from behind her. "You got down here just in time. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold him off." With that he handed her a plate and gestured at the counter where her mom was setting down a plate of breakfast sandwiches.

"Brock taught me all sorts of cooking tips," May's mom said, admiring the arrangement of food that rested on the counters. May smiled and piled a meal onto her plate. Once everyone had finished eating, Brock strategized the fastest way to get to Rustboro City.

"I heard about a trail that hardly anyone knows about, and-" He was stopped in mid-sentence by the menacing looks that the two teens were shooting him. "Or on second thought, let's just take the main trail."

"Good plan," both Ash and May said. The group laughed.

"Oh dear, look at the time." May's mother said as she looked up at a clock. "You'd all better hit the road soon if you want to be at Rustboro before sunset."

As the group of travelers said their goodbyes to May's mom and walked toward the Gym door, a distant voice stopped them.

"Wait up! May, Ash, Brock! Hold on!" Norman ran into the room, panting and clutching something in his arms.

"What is it, Dad?" May asked.

Norman took a breath and walked over to the kids. "Ash," He said to the raven-haired boy.

"Yeah?"

"I want you to have this." He held out the book that the group had looked through last night.

"No," Ash said, "I couldn't-"

"Please," Norman smiled at him. "It could help you- or you could make the next big discovery on Latias and Latios."

"But you've had it for years," Ash said, looking up at him.

"Exactly." Norman gave a smile. "I've already read it. I want this book to go with you kids."

Ash still looked unsure. He felt uncomfortable with taking something so sentimental from Norman.

"Please," Norman repeated. "As a favor to me."

Ash finally nodded and took the book into his own hands. Holding it had a strange feeling.

"Thank you," Ash said. And with that as a goodbye, the group of teens made their way out of the Gym and into the streets of Petalburg. As the group walked through the streets on their way toward Rustboro, mixed emotions polluted the air. Ash was looking down at the ancient book, a feeling of responsibility and honor over him. Brock was looking straight ahead as he walked, confident in his abilities to locate the next town without use of the map- which he was now convinced was faulty. May, on the other hand, was still feeling tired, but also excited for their second chance at traveling. _Hopefully this time we can get to our destination on purpose, _she thought to herself. As they rounded another block of buildings, May let out a small yawn and brock chuckled.

"What?" She asked, looking over at him.

"It looks like somebody has just learned the power of a good night's sleep," He teased. Then he looked over at Ash, who still cradled the book in his arms.

"You know Ash, I could put that book away in my backpack. There's plenty of room." As Ash's arms were getting tired, he agreed and handed it to Brock. After about an hour of walking, they arrived at the entrance to the Rustboro Forest. In comparison to the one that they had escaped yesterday, this one was much more tame- at least on the main path it was. As the teens walked along the well-tended to trail, they saw many forest pokemon, such as Shroomish, Slackoth, Zigzagoon, and Tailow, all of which Ash logged in the pokedex.

"Wow, Ash said as they rested for a moment against a tree beside the trail. "There sure are a lot of Pokemon in these woods."

"That's for sure," Brock agreed. "They're everywhere."

"Hey, what's that one?" May asked, pointing at a small red pokemon that crawled through the brush in front of them.

"Let me check," Ash said, pulling out his pokedex and focusing it on the strange creature.

_Wurmple, _The device said. _The Worm Pokemon. Wurmple uses it's sharp tail spikes to defend itself from hungry Tailow, while it constantly eats off of leaves and other forest foliage. _

"Wait, Wurmple?" May asked, trying to remember something that Max had once told her. "They turn into Beautifly! Oh, I just have to catch one!" She said, pulling out a pokeball and running after the pokemon as it took off into the foliage.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" Ash asked Brock as May disappeared behind a variety of plant life.

"I think she'll be just fine," Brock said as he went through his pack. "She has Torchic with her. And besides, these woods look pretty safe to me."

"I guess," Ash said, but he was still worried for then, a man in a construction worker uniform walked over to by where the two were resting and stuck a wooden marker in the ground.

"This will be a good spot," The man said to himself.

"Excuse me, a good spot for what?" A curious Ash asked.

"Oh, I'm putting a sign here to warn travelers of dangerous walking conditions."

"What do you mean 'dangerous'?" Brock asked.

"Well, you shouldn't have to worry about it if you stay on the main path," The man continued. "But there was a landslide recently, and the ground has been deteriorating by the cliffs off that way."

The man gestured to the patch of woods that May had chased the Wurmple through. In that _exact_ direction. Just then, a scream could be faintly heard in the distance. Before Ash knew what he was doing, he was sprinting after her in a panic, leaving Pikachu and Brock still at the tree.

"Hey, kid! What are you doing?" The worker shouted after him.

"May could be in trouble!" Ash yelled back, adrenaline influencing his every move.

"It's not safe!" The man shouted, but Ash had made up his mind. There was no way that he was going to let anything happen to her.

As he ran through the woods, getting whipped with branches and breathing heavily, he was calling out her name.

"May! MAY!" He practically screamed, looking every which way for her. He heard another scream, this one closer, and turned in that direction.

"I'm coming! Where are you?" He shouted.

"Over here," Came her reply.

"But be careful!" He heard and slid to a stop just yards from a cliff's edge. He looked down and was taken back at how high up they were. A whole other forest was stretching out into the distance far below him.

"Ash!" He heard and turned his head. May was dangling from a limb, with Torchic looking down at her concerned from the cliff's edge.

"I'm coming!" he said as he rushed over to where she was. _What do I do, what do I do? _Ash thought in a panic, looking around.

"I can't hold on much longer," He heard her call.

"Just hang in there, May I'm coming!" He said. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but Ash suddenly got a genius idea. He quickly scanned the woods for some vine and found one that looked sturdy enough to hold them both. He quickly tied one end of it around a large tree and then the other end around himself_. I'm coming, May_. He thought. _Just stay strong. _Looking down the sheer cliff, Ash's legs got weak as he realized how far down it was. But he would never give up on her. Taking a breath, Ash slowly lowered himself down the cliff , repelling with the vine working as a rope. Finally, he got down to her. Her arms were shaking, and her face was red having held herself up so long.

"Grab a hold of me," He told her. She closed her eyes tight.

"Ok," She said, using whatever strength that was still in her arms to swing over to him. When she hit him, He grabbed a hold of her tightly with one hand, while using the other to guide the vine. She rested her head on his chest.

"I'm scared, Ash." She said, shaking.

"Just don't look down," He told her. Then, in a more reassuring voice, said "It'll be ok."

_I hope this holds, _He said, lightly tugging on the vine. With that, he slowly began to walk up the cliff, one solid step after the other. Once he had gotten about halfway from the limb to the crest, he had realized that May had gone limp- Evidently passed out from terror. At realizing this he held her even tighter and continued walking. Clinching his teeth, he made progress toward the top. _Almost there- _He thought to himself. _Just a few more feet… _But then a terrible sound came from the vine. A horrible, nasty sound. Ash looked up. Several small snaps came from the vine on the edge, as the strain slowly diminished its strength. In a panic, Ash moved upward at an even higher speed. But just as he was reaching for the top, the vine gave way. With a loud _Crack! _The vine went limp, sending Ash and a still unconscious May falling to their inevitable doom. Ash looked down at her face, calm and still in her sleep. _I'm so sorry,_ he thought as they plummeted, tears welling in his eyes. Just as they were approaching the treetops at an intense speed, something spectacular happened. As Ash held tight to May, his eyes shut tight in anticipation of the blow, they suddenly stopped falling. Ash opened his eyes and looked around. He was shocked to see that they were actually flying back up toward the cliff.

"Huh?" Ash said, thoroughly confused. Then he realized that they were sitting on something. But before he had the chance to see what it was, he and may were dropped off softly on the ground feet from where May had fallen. Ash looked down at her, now laying with her head in his lap as he kneeled. He brushed the hair gently out of her face and realizing that something had saved them, he looked up to see their savior. But it had long since took off, leaving Ash to wonder what had just happened. For several minutes, he just sat there with May's head still resting in his lap as he stared at the horizon.

"Hm?" He heard and felt her start to stir. Slowly, May opened her eyes to see Ash looking down at her with a concerned expression on his face. From him, she turned to look at the edge of the cliff and started to remember what had taken place- her chasing after the Wurmple, it sitting on the edge, she ran over to it, and as it jumped out of her way the earth beneath her feet had given in. Then she remembered Ash coming to her rescue… And how he had obviously carried her back up the cliff. Tears filled her eyes as she turned to Ash and wrapped her arms around him, holding on to him as tightly as she could.

"My hero." She whispered in his ear as they both sat there clinging onto each other. Ash felt a twinge of guilt hit his heart as she said this. _But I didn't save her, _He thought._ It was something else… Latios! _The thought hit him hard as he recalled the story about the boy that had been saved from a similar situation by Latios._ It all makes sense! _He thought.

"May," He started.

She slowly let go of him and looked him in the eye.

"I didn't save you," Ash said, looking down at the ground.

"But… of course you did!" She replied. "I remember you using that vine to come and get me!"

Disgraced, he pointed over at the cliff, where a vine with a recent break laid limply. A feeling of terror came over her as she stared at the makeshift rope.

"I don't understand," She said softly, still looking at it. Ash took a breath.

"Do you remember that story that your dad told us about that little boy that Latios saved?"

"Yeah…" She said slowly. Then she realized. "You mean… Latios-"

"-Saved us. Yeah." Ash said, rubbing the back of his head and looking away. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you."

Just then, May did the last thing that Ash would of expected. Out of the blue, she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly and resting her head on his shoulder.

"But you would have died trying to save me," She said, face in his hair. "That still makes you _my_ hero."

Then she pulled away, and looked at him for a moment before lightly kissing him on the cheek. Ash felt his face grow hot as she pulled her warm, soft lips off of his skin. She then smiled at him shyly, a blush across her face too. _Kiss her now!_ He thought to himself as he stared into her ocean-blue eyes. But before he could, Brock and Pikachu crashed through the woods toward them.

"Is everyone alright?" Brock asked urgently, not noticing the tender moment that he had interrupted. The two quickly let go of each other and stood up, facing Brock.

"We're ok," May said, smiling at Ash again. "Now."

"What a relief." Brock said, a smile now on his face. "Follow me, we should get back on the trail."

As the two teens walked side-by-side behind Brock, both were fighting battles in their heads.

_Why didn't you just kiss her?_ Ash thought as they walked in silence. _That was your chance to tell her!_

Walking just feet away, May was wondering the same thing.

**So how was that? The big first kiss has still yet to come, but at least we're making progress. **

**Anyway, Please review and share your thoughts.**

**-StartersoverLegends**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, I just want to give a shout-out to anyone who has read up until this point. Thanks for your support, I know you've read a lot to get here and I appreciate it.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**: _Rustboro, Finally_

As a large orange sun set in the sky, walking conditions in the Rustboro woods grew steadily more unbearable for Ash, May, Brock, and of course- Pikachu. The forest that the teens had been cutting through grew dark and cold, diminishing morale for the group. As the friends walked side-by-side, it was easy to see that they were losing stamina, but Brock was determined to arrive in the big city before they called it a night.

"Just a little farther," He said, smiling at a map that was barely visible with the dying light.

"Good," Ash said. He had been through a lot today and just wanted a nice place to rest for a bit.

May was still being uncharacteristically quiet. Brock figured that it was because of her near-death experience. And Ash was still kicking himself for not returning her kiss as they held each other on the cliff. He could still remember the feeling as if it was still happening, but knew very well that he could have just blew his chances to tell her how he really felt. As the last beam of sunlight faded on the horizon, May spoke for the first time in hours.

"How much farther is it? I don't want to walk for too long in the dark."

"Like I said, we'll be there in no time," Brock said reassuringly.

"But you've been saying that for hours!"

"The map lied to me…" Brock said, defeated.

"Here, let me see it." Ash offered, receiving the map from Brock. After studying it for a moment in silence, Ash let out a sigh.

"Brock, you've had it upside-down this whole time! We're still miles from Rustboro!"

Brock hung his head in disgrace. "This navigation thing is just not for me…"

"Guys," May said, shivering in the cold. "Maybe we should camp out here for the night."

Both agreed and Brock got out the camping equipment while Ash gathered firewood. May sat, petting a sleeping Pikachu. Torchic lit the fire, and immediately the group huddled around it.

"Mm, feels good," May said, sitting close to the low flame.

"Yeah definitely." Ash agreed, smiling.

But Brock was now going through his backpack wearing a concerned expression.

"What is it?" Ash asked him as he gave up on looking.

"We're a sleeping bag short…" Brock sighed at how unprepared they were.

"What are we going to do?" May asked, looking up.

"Well, I guess one of us is just going to have to sleep on the ground by the fire to keep warm."

A concerned look grew on an exhausted May's face, and Ash was quick to volunteer.

"I'll do it," He said as he tried not to look disappointed. The other two, too tired to argue, allowed it. As Brock and May climbed into their sleeping bags, Ash laid down on a somewhat-smooth area next to the fire. May felt bad, but after the events that took place today, her eyes quickly grew heavy and she drifted off. At first Ash was actually kind of comfortable, resting on the ground close to the fire. But before long, his only source of heat dimmed and died, leaving him shivering in the cold. He tried to keep the sound of his shivering down, so that the other two could sleep. But as the first signs of hypothermia shone through, his shaking had become easily audible. Brock still slept soundly through it, snoring lightly. But May, on the other hand, opened her eyes to see Ash curled up in a ball shivering while holding his hands over the last few embers. Come to think of it, she was getting kind of cold too.

"Hey Ash," She said just loud enough for him to hear.

"Hm?" He looked over at her.

"Are you cold?"

He shook his head, not wanting her to feel bad. But his attempt at deception was trampled as his teeth let out a loud chatter.

"Ash?" She asked, an unconvinced tone in her voice.

"Yeah," He said, looking down at what was left of the fire. "A little."

She gave a small smile. "Come here."

"Huh?" He said, looking over at her.

"Just do it." She said, rolling her eyes.

Ash slowly stood up and walked over to her, leaving a comfortably sleeping Pikachu and Torchic cuddled together. She looked up at him with her beautiful deep-blue eyes.

"Aren't you going to get in?" She asked.

Ash gulped. Every fiber in his body was screaming for him to join her in the sleeping bag. Firstly because it would mean warmth, something that he desperately needed. But also because it mean being close to her. So close, in fact, that they would undoubtedly be touching. But despite how badly he wanted to, Ash hesitated. Probably because he had never been so close to a girl before- especially not one that he felt this strongly about. But looking down at her and seeing how comfortable she looked, he gave in and slipped into the bag.

"See? Now isn't that better?" She said softly, facing him.

"Y-yeah," He said, not sure if the stutter was from cold or nervousness. "Thank you."

She smiled. He was right; they were pressed against each other. This warmed him up quickly, as her body heat added to his. She was also enjoying the extra warmth, but not as much as she enjoyed being so close to Ash. But as you would expect out of two teens in their situation, neither showed it.

"Goodnight," She said in a voice just above a whisper. Ash felt her warm breath on his face as she had said it, instantly relaxing him.

"Goodnight." He said before they both quickly dozed into a deep, peaceful rest.

The next morning, Ash and May were woken up by Brock, who had noticed that the two had been sharing a sleeping bag. Also, they were cuddled close together, even though the large sleeping bag had room for them to separate more if they wanted to. But instead, they rested close together with May resting her head on his chest as Ash's arms wrapped around her.

"Uh, Guys?" Brock asked as he raised an eyebrow down at the two. Both of their eyes shot open, and they immediately released each other.

"Care to explain?"

The two exchanged glances.

"Ash got cold," May started. "So I offered for him to share with me."

"Mm hm." Brock said, skeptical that was their only motive. Ash climbed out of the sleeping bag and stretched out, followed by a yawning May. After the group had eaten their breakfast and packed their things, they got back to walking the trail. As they walked, they talked happily about several pokemon-related subjects- a vast improvement over yesterday's tense silence. Before the teens knew it, they could see Rustboro in the distance from atop a hill.

"Look!" May said, the first to notice.

"Wow," Brock said as he looked out over the giant city.

"It's huge!" Ash exclaimed.

A moment of silence passed as the trainers stood in awe of the city. But as Ash had a major gym battle ahead and May had many stores to browse, it didn't last long.

"Race you there!" May said as she took off down the hill.

"Oh, you're on! C'mon Pikachu!" Ash answered as he ran after her.

"Wait!" Brock called after them, "Don't leave without me!"

As they reached the Rustboro City gates at almost the exact moment, Brock was a way behind, slowed by his massive backpack. While they waited on their friend, Ash and May caught their breath, panting hard.

"Good… Race," Ash said between breaths and smiling at her.

"Yeah," She replied.

"Quite the photo finish," They heard a voice from beside the gates.

"Huh?" Ash asked the speaker. Out stepped a woman in a teacher's uniform and long pinkish-red hair that braided behind her head.

"You two were really neck in neck," The woman said as she approached them.

"Thanks," May said, confused at why this stranger was making conversation with them. The woman obviously noticed their expressions and chuckled.

"Oh, where are my manors today?" She held out her hand for May to shake. "I'm Roxanne. And you are?"

"May Maple," May said, shaking her hand and giving a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you," Roxanne smiled back. "And you?" She said, turning to Ash.

"Ash Ketchum." He said, "And this is Pikachu," He gestured at the yellow mouse pokemon that rested on his shoulder.

"Pika Pikachu!" It greeted her happily.

"Cute pokemon," Roxanne said as she pet Pikachu. "But not as cute as you two." She stated, stepping back and looking at May and Ash.

"What do you mean?" May asked nervously.

"You two _are_ a couple, right?" Roxanne asked, head tilted.

"No!" Both answered in unison.

She laughed. "I'm sorry. Judging how close you two were when you came down, I could have sworn you were."

Both laughed nervously, blushing slightly.

"Oh _I_ see." Roxanne said, smiling at them.

"What?" Ash asked her.

"Oh, nothing." She said, "You'll find out soon enough."

Neither of them knew what she was talking about, but Roxanne was great at seeing through to people's feelings. And as for the two teens that stood in front of her, well she could read them like a book. May was about to say something else, when Brock's voice could be heard from behind them.

"Hey guys, wait for me!" He shouted, just now getting to the gates. "Oh, there you are," he said as he jogged over to them. "I thought I lost-" And now he was focused on Roxanne.

"Ah, Roxanne, we meet at last! I have long awaited this moment that our paths cross and we could be together at last!"

Roxanne gave a nervous chuckle. The tables had turned.

"Wait Brock," May began to ask, "You know Roxanne?"

"Of course! She is only the most amazing woman in Hoen! Not only is she the Rustboro Gym leader, she also runs the world-famous Rustboro Trainer's School!"

"Gym leader!?" Ash said, surprised.

"Trainer's School?" May asked, curious.

"That's right," She said, looking past Brock and at them. "And today I'm also meeting travelers at the town gate. You _are_ all here for the 10th Annual Rustboro Dance, right?"

"A dance?" Ash and May echoed each other again.

"That's right." Roxanne said.

"Actually, I was just here for some shopping." May said sheepishly.

"And I came for a Gym Battle." Ash replied.

"And I came for you!" Brock said on one knee.

"Well you decided to visit Rustboro at the perfect time if you want to shop," She said to May. "There are some great sales on dresses due to the upcoming dance."

"Great!" May said, a huge smile on her face.

"But as far as a Gym Battle goes," She said, now looking at Ash. "I'm sorry to inform you that the Gym is closed today for the same reason."

"Oh," Ash said disappointedly.

"But I'd be happy to take your challenge first thing in the morning."

"Ok then, we battle tomorrow!" Ash said, feeling a little better.

"Hey," Roxanne said to the group, "Since you've got until tomorrow, why don't you all attend the dance?"

Given that they had time to spare, the group agreed.

"Perfect," She said, smiling. "It's being held in the old Rustboro Ballroom at 8 o'clock _sharp_. Oh, and take this." She handed them each a pamphlet with a map of Rustboro and all of its buildings.

"Thanks, Roxanne!" The group said and waved their goodbyes as she walked off toward the Ballroom.

"Well, we have 7 hours until the dance," He said while looking up at a large clock outside of a building. "Why don't we meet up here an hour before it starts so that we can get ready?"

"Ok!" Ash said

"Sounds good to me," May agreed.

"Alright then," Brock said. "I'll check us into a hotel."

And with that, the three split up to explore the vast city.

**So what'd you think? Good? Bad? Have a bone to pick about previous chapters? REVIEW. I haven't received any feedback in a while, so I have no idea what any of you guys think about the story so far. If I don't get some reviews before long, I may stop writing because I don't know if people like it. Well, I don't know. Maybe. It's been really fun to write these so far. Just please tell me what you think and be brutally honest. **

**Thanks,**

**StartersoverLegends**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Sorry, this ones a little late. I've been really busy lately so I couldn't finish this chapter within my usual 24-hour post. **

**Anyway, I think that the story is going pretty good so far. All of your continued input is greatly appreciated and allowed me to improve in writing this chapter, so keep it coming!**

**So far the story has almost 700 views, which I think is pretty good for a first fanfic. Lets keep it going!**

**As usual, enjoy and get back to me.**

**Chapter 7**: _Crossing Paths_

(**May**): _Of Truth and Love_

As May split off from the rest of her group for some shopping, she felt a strange sense of adventure- more so than she had felt when she found herself lost in the woods or even when she had recklessly pursued that Wurmple toward a cliff's edge. Wondering why this was, she realized that it's the first time in her life that she had really been left to her own devices. Up until this point, she had always had someone looking over her shoulder and holding her hand, whether it be her overprotective parents, her know-it-all brother, or the people traveling with her. She smiled.

_So this is what it's like to be your own person,_ She however much she enjoyed being able to make her own choices as an independent trainer, it felt to her like something was missing. Although she could use some time away from the guys, she started to really miss Ash. Despite the fact that they had only been separated for a short time, it was obvious that she would be much happier if he was with there with her. That was until a thought occurred- the same thing that had been on her mind all morning. She thought back to when she had kissed him on his cheek. It was an in-the-moment thing, a way to express her thanks and also in the hopes that he would return her affection. And although he had held her as if she was someone that he really cared for, he had not kissed her back. A strange mixture of confusion and thoughtfulness grew on her face in place of the independent smile she wore just moments ago.

_Ash has always been so nice to me, _she thought as she stared at the ground with a troubled expression. _Always helping me and giving advice. _She thought back to what he had told her about trusting her pokemon, and going out of his way to comfort her on many occasions.

_That means he has to love me, right? At least a little… _It was the first time that she had used the term 'love' and Ash's name in the same thought. Realizing this only bothered her more. _Does that mean that I love him?_ She was completely lost, even though her feelings for him were definitely strong. She felt as though she would do anything for him, and knew that he would do the same for her. However, May still felt very conflicted. She had never liked (Or loved, whatever it was she was feeling) a guy like this before. As these thoughts raced through her head, somebody approached her on the sidewalk.

"Excuse me," May heard a voice.

"Huh?" She looked up to see a girl who appeared to be about a year or two older than her with long brunette hair and bright eyes.

"I'm sorry, but is something wrong? You look really upset." The girl asked her.

"Oh, it's nothing." May said while attempting to mask her feelings. The girl smiled.

"Are you out here for the dance tonight?"

"Yeah. Well, kind of. I came for some shopping, but I do really need a dress for the dance."

"Well, lucky for you I know where the best spots for dress shopping are. Care to join me?"

May wasn't one for going off with a complete stranger, but this girl came off as very trustworthy to her. And besides, May had no idea where she was going anyway.

"Sure!" She answered with a smile.

"Ok, follow me."

As the two girls walked down the street together, May suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, by the way I'm May." She said, stopping and holding out her hand for the other girl to shake. "I'm a Pokemon trainer."

"I'm Miranda." The girl replied with a smile. "Student at Rustboro High."

"So you live here?" May asked, looking around at the giant buildings that surrounded them.

"Well, kinda." Miranda responded as they began to walk again. "I alternate between living here and in Slateport City."

"Oh I bet that's cool, being by the beach and all."

"Yeah, it's a blast. But to be honest, I like it here a lot better." Miranda replied.

"Why?"

"Well for one thing the Pokemon. They're everywhere around the city, making studying really fun." A thoughtful, far-off look came over Miranda's face. "And there are some really great guys here- back at Slateport they're all like surfers and kind of stuck up."

"Wow, really?" May asked.

"Yeah…" Miranda broke out of her trance and turned to May. "So is there a guy that you're going to the dance with?"

May sighed as they turned onto another block. "I don't know…" She said as her mind went back to Ash again.

Miranda shot her a sideways glance. "In here."

She gestured at a relatively small clothes shop that was hardly noticeable amongst all of the others. As they walked in through the door, the two girls were greeted by all sorts of different colored dresses that hung on racks. In the back were some mirrors and a changing room.

"Wow," May said, amazed at how many different dresses the small shop housed.

"Yup," Miranda said, eyeballing the merchandise with a smile. "This is my favorite spot."

As May walked along the aisles inspecting each individual dress, Miranda spoke up.

"So who is he?"

May was obviously caught off guard. "Who?" She asked nervously, kind of wanting to talk about Ash but also wanting to get her mind off of him.

"This guy that's got you so bummed out? And don't tell me it's no one, I can see it written on your face."

May sighed again while pulling out a short light-green dress and studying it.

"Well, he's been traveling with me, and he's super sweet." She thought for a moment. "And also really cute." She put the dress back and pulled out a red one. "He's always going out of his way to make me happy, and I was sure that he liked me. But I kissed him yesterday and he didn't kiss me back."

"Hmm…" Miranda thought as she pulled out a white dress of her own. "How did you kiss him?"

"Just on the cheek, as thanks for something that he did for me," May said, rifling through a rack of ball-gown style dresses. "But when I pulled away and waited for him to kiss me back, he hesitated."

Miranda put a dress down and faced May, crossing her arms.

"I'm going to need a little more information than that. What else have you two been through?"

With that, May filled her in on all of the things he did for her, (Including how he almost died trying to save her life), about their hugging, and about them sharing a sleeping bag.

"Well it's obvious to me that he has a thing for you," Miranda said as she draped a dress over her arm to try on in the dressing room later.

"Really?" May stopped going through dresses immediately and looked over at her.

"Oh yeah," Miranda said. "But the question is, how exactly do you feel about him? I know you've kissed him and everything, but I can tell that you're confused."

May gave it a moment's thought. "I don't know… I really like him, more than any guy I've ever known. But I can't find the right word."

"It's love."

"What?" May asked, taken back. She had up until this point suspected it, but didn't know enough about the feeling to truly put it into place.

Miranda gave a chuckle. "L-O-V-E!" She spelled out. "Look, May. I can tell that you've never felt this way before- thus your confusion. But everything that I've heard points to the fact that you _love_ him."

May smiled as she pulled out another dress.

"Ok, maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right," Miranda said. "I've got this stuff down."

"And do you think… That he maybe loves me?" May asked shyly.

Miranda smiled at her. "That's for him to tell you, not me." She looked at the dress that May was holding, A beautiful blue one that she seemed to have taken a liking-to. "Is that the one?"

May studied it for a second longer. "Yeah, I think it is."

With that, the two girls headed to the back of the store to the changing room. Miranda changed first, into a medium-length pink dress with red lacing. May gasped as she stepped out.

"You look beautiful!" May said as Miranda smiled into the mirror on the wall.

"Yeah, not bad." Miranda said, giving a twirl. "Now you."

May stepped into the small changing room and quickly switched out of her normal Trainer clothes and into the dress. Taking a breath, she stepped out of the room and looked at Miranda. If May had gasped when she saw Miranda in her dress, then Miranda was completely breathless.

"May, It's perfect! You look amazing!" She exclaimed after May held out her arms in a 'So how do I look?' gesture.

May turned and looked into the mirror. She too was at a loss of words- she had never seen herself looking so beautiful. She had even taken off her bandana for the occasion, letting her medium length brunette hair down. The dress itself was almost like a ball-gown style, but not so round. This one was a tad more form fitting, showing her curves but also fluffed enough at the hips to look formal. It was a light blue that perfectly complemented her eyes, although the lacing was white. May smiled at her reflection.

"Ash is going to love it," Miranda said, looking into May's face through the mirror.

"Do you really think so?" May asked, inspecting her reflection with a slight blush.

"Absolutely!" Miranda said, surprised at May's lack of confidence. "Come on, let's go and pay for these."

After the two had changed back into their normal clothes and paid for the dresses, they stepped back out into the city. A couple of hours had passed, and the sun was just starting to set. The sidewalks were now bustling with people dressed in fancy clothes, commuting from one building to another in a hurry.

"Why is everyone moving so quickly? We still have a while before the dance." May asked Miranda while glancing down at her Pokenav. It read 6:30.

"The annual dance is a big deal around here." Miranda said as they watched groups of people running around in a haphazard fashion. "Everybody wants to look perfect before it starts, so they start getting ready hours in advance."

Suddenly May remembered her promise to Brock about meeting back at 7, an hour before the dance started.

"Oh, I forgot!" She exclaimed, pulling out the map that Roxanne had given her and running in the direction of the town gates.

"What's wrong May?" Miranda called after her.

"I have to meet Brock and Ash at the town gates! Thanks for everything!"

"Anytime!" Miranda shouted. "I'll see you at the dance!"

* * *

(**Ash**): _Say Taillow to my Little Friend_

"Come on, kid! Fight me!" The strange boy challenged Ash, seemingly driven by ego and surrounded by what looked like his goons and a bunch of girls from the trainer's school. Although he was taken back by this kid's swiftness to challenge him, Ash wasn't one to decline a fight.

"Alright, you're on!" Ash said to the blond-haired kid as he got into his signature battle stance. "Pikachu let's go!"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu jumped out in front of Ash and faced the challenger, sparks illuminating from its cheeks as it got ready to battle.

Honestly, Ash didn't know what this kid's problem was. After splitting up with the group Ash had made his way toward the Rustboro Gym, hoping to see the battlefield and get a strategic advantage for tomorrow's battle. But just as he and Pikachu had approached the Gym doors, he was stopped.

"_Hey, kid!" He heard a challenge from behind him._

"_Who, me?" Ash had asked as he turned around, Pikachu on his shoulder. He was suddenly face to face with a boy who looked to be about his age, surrounded by some other boys and a group of girls that followed him giggling from a distance. Like his personal fan club._

"_Yeah you!" The boy said, an annoyed look on his face. "What do you think you're doing sneaking around Ms. Roxanne's Gym?"_

"_Oh nothing really," Ash said, now feeling like he was on trial as the boy's posse stared him down. "I was just hoping to get a look inside. You see, I have a battle tomorrow and-"_

_The boy cut him off with a sarcastic laugh. "You're going to challenge Ms. Roxanne?" The rest of the boys in his group shared in his laughter, mocking Ash._

"_Well, yeah." Ash said. _

"_Listen, kid." The boy said. It really annoyed Ash that he kept saying 'kid' granted that they were the same age. _

"_What?" _

"_You're cute, thinking that you can just walk into our town and challenge our leader. But before you even think about facing someone like Roxanne, you should try your luck with one of Rustboro's best."_

"_Who, you?" Ash asked. The response had come out a bit more sarcastic than he had meant._

"_That's right, me! So are we going to do this or not?" The boy asked. The girls had stopped their giggling and were now focused intently on the two boys. _

_Ash thought for a moment. As much as he wanted to battle this punk kid, he remembered that he only had so much time until he had to meet back up with Brock and May._

And that was what had led him into this situation, fighting some Rustboro High School kid and being watched by both his gang and about a dozen girls, making him kind of uncomfortable. Now he stood, Pikachu in front of him against his opponent who now wore a smug look on his face, as if the battle was already won.

"Pikachu, huh?" The kid asked. "A good _beginner_ pokemon. Let's see how it does against my-" The kid threw out a pokeball. "Shiftry!"

The ball opened in midair and released a large pokemon that somewhat resembled a tree.

"Shiftry?" Ash asked as he pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the creature.

_Shiftry, _The machine said in its robotic voice. _The Wicked Pokemon. In the wild, Shiftry live atop ancient trees and watch out over the forest that they inhabit. Shiftry are known to use their leaf fans to attack, confusing the opponent. Shiftry is the evolved form of Nuzleaf._

Ash pocketed the Pokedex and looked up at the creature. It had a considerable size gain on Pikachu, but Ash had faced much tougher-looking opponents than this before.

"Go ahead," The boy called from across the Gym yard, which was serving as a makeshift battlefield. "I'll let you have the first attack."

_Electric moves won't do me much good, seeing as it's a grass type. _Ash thought to himself. _So I guess it's up to Quick Attack and Iron Tail!_

"Alright, Pikachu! Use Quick Attack!" Ash called out to the Yellow Mouse Pokemon. Pikachu took off at impressive speed at the target, which calmly stood in the path of Pikachu's attack.

_Why isn't it trying to avoid?_ Ash thought.

"Shiftry, Dodge!" The opponent called out not a moment from impact. In a flash, Shiftry threw itself high into the air, leaving Pikachu vulnerable to an attack below it.

"Now use Razor Leaf!" The pokemon sent a cluster of pointed leaves flying toward the ground from it's fans.

"Pikachu, get out of the way!" Ash called out, but too late. The attack hit it's mark, sending Pikachu flying and hit the ground hard.

"Are you Ok, Pikachu?" Ash called out and the pokemon quickly jumped to its feet.

"Pika Pika!" It said in a determined manner.

"Alright!" Ash said, then focused his attention on Shiftry as it landed. _It's too fast…_ Ash thought. _Unless I can catch it off-guard. _

The opposing boy smiled arrogantly as his group cheered him on.

"Yeah, show him Tommy!" Ash heard one of the girls shout out.

"Tommy, huh?" Ash said under his breath. "Alright, Pikachu use quick attack again!"

Pikachu obediently charged at the target. Tommy smirked.

"The same thing again? Don't you ever learn?" He looked back at his Shiftry. "Dodge it."

The Shiftry quickly jumped to the side, doing exactly as Ash had expected. He smiled.

"Pikachu, use that speed from quick attack and jump at Shiftry!"

Pikachu quickly pushed off of the ground with its hind legs and launched itself at the target before Tommy could realize what was going on.

"Shiftry, jump to dodge it!" The trainer called out instinctively.

"Oh no you don't!" Ash shouted. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pika- Chu!" It shouted as it hit Shiftry squarely with the blast of electricity. Although it didn't do a lot of damage, the hit was enough to slow Shiftry and allow Pikachu an opening for another attack.

"Now use Quick Attack off of the ground and hit it with an Iron Tail!" Ash shouted. Pikachu did as instructed and flew up at the target.

"Shiftry, no!" Tommy called out. He now had a look of worry on his face, satisfying Ash.

"Now Pikachu!" He called out when Pikachu was within feet of Shiftry. Pikachu spun itself around quickly, its tail glowing white and hit Shiftry sharply in the side. Tommy's posse gasped as Shiftry was thrown powerfully to the ground by the attack.

"But… Your little Pikachu shouldn't be able to do that to my Shiftry!" Tommy said in disbelief.

"I guess you underestimated us, then." Ash replied. "Pikachu, finish it with a Thunder attack!"

While Shiftry struggled to get to its feet, Pikachu attacked from the air.

"Pikachu!" It gave its signature cry as it launched a huge bolt of lightning at the ground. Even if it wasn't too effective, anyone witnessing the battle could tell that this attack had some punch to it.

"Dodge it Shiftry, NOW!" Tommy cried out, panicking on his side of the field. Shiftry did its best to jump out of the way of the attack, but wasn't fully recovered from its fall and got hit with some of the attack and was sent flying, sending up a dust cloud when it made contact with the ground. Pikachu landed gracefully, facing the cloud of debris that resulted from Shiftry's powerful impact with the ground. Both trainers held their breaths as the dust settled, Pikachu panting from its attack combo that it had just pulled off. Finally, Shiftry could be made out through the smoke. It slowly got to its feet and faced Pikachu, looking as though it still wanted to fight.

"Yeah!" Tommy pumped his fist in the air. "You see? Shiftry and I are unbeatable!" He teased Ash. But as soon as the words had left his mouth, Shiftry gave a powerful shudder and fell to the ground KO'd.

"Yeah! Pikachu, we did it!" Ash called to its pokemon happily.

"Pika Pikachu!" The pokemon shouted as it bounded into his arms. Ash caught it and scratched Pikachu behind it's ears affectionately while Tommy called back his fainted pokemon.

"Shiftry, return." He said, discouraged and returning Shiftry to its Pokeball. The mass of people that had been with him were astonished. Murmurs could be heard from Tommy's friends, as well as from the group of girls that had been following him.

"Woah, someone beat Tommy?" "This kid must be really good!" "I've never seen anything like that before!" "You know, he's kind of cute…"

Ash blushed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He was all for praise after a good battle, but from a bunch of people who had moments ago wanted him utterly destroyed it was kind of disconcerting. He looked up and noticed that the sun was starting to lower in the sky and remembered that he had to meet the others by 7.

"Hey, good battle but I have to get going. No hard feelings, right?" Ash asked Tommy, who was now staring down at the pokeball clutched in his hands with a strange expression on his face.

After about a moment of silence, Ash turned to walk away but was stopped by the same voice again.

"Y-you can't just do that to my Shiftry and get away with it." Ash heard and spun around to face Tommy, who now had sweat rolling down his red face. It was obvious that he wasn't used to losing.

"Hey, _you_ wanted to fight _me_!" Ash challenged. "You can't get mad at me for winning!"

Tommy shook his head. "Get him."

With that simple command, three of his goons stepped forward, all of which held a pokeball at the ready. There was an audible gasp from among the girls.

"Go!" All three boys threw their pokeballs at once, each sending out a Nuzleaf. It was obvious to Ash that they were trying to be like Tommy by having the same Pokemon. For a moment he thought of fighting, but realized that Pikachu was still tired from the last battle and wasn't sure how safe it was for it to battle three more pokemon.

"Hey what's the idea!?" Ash challenged them. "You're just going to gang up three to one against a tired pokemon?"

As a response one of the three called out a command to his pokemon.

"Nuzleaf, Bullet Seed now!"

The strange wooden pokemon opened its mouth wide and sent a stream of rapidly flying seeds at Ash and Pikachu, who quickly bounded off of Ash's shoulder and stopped the attack with a Thunderbolt. A moment of tense silence passed as Pikachu stared down the three looming Nuzleaf. Although intimidated and at the brink of exhaustion, Pikachu would never let its friend down and Ash knew it.

"Alright Pikachu, let's show them what we're made of! Quick Attack!"

That command started a battling war between Pikachu and the opposing pokemon. For several minutes, Ash and Pikachu fought ferociously against the Nuzleaf and finally had won against the three. As the fainted pokemon rested in a pile, Ash and Pikachu celebrated, thinking that it was over. But their victory was short-lived as one of the opponents called for backup.

"Switch!" One trainer said as the defeated recalled their Nuzleaf and were replaced with three more trainers from the group. In a bad case of De Ja Vu, the trainers sent out _their_ Nuzleaf, fully rested and ready to fight.

"Alright, no big deal!" Ash said, but looking down at Pikachu realized that their victories had come at a price. The yellow pokemon was now completely exhausted, legs shaking and panting heavily as it faced the three new opponents. _I can't put Pikachu through another battle like that,_ Ash thought to himself. _It's already hurt._ He scooped up the worn pokemon into his arms and began to back up slowly.

"Hey, we're too tired to battle!" Ash bargained with them. "We can battle again some other time."

But instead of backing off, the opposing team walked a step forward every time that Ash stepped back, until he was back against the Gym wall.

"You're not getting off that easily, Kid." One of the kids said with a malicious grin on his face. "Nuzleaf, Bullet Seed!"

Ash held Pikachu close and tensed as he anticipated the attack. But right before the flying seeds made contact with the trainer, a flash sent them flying back at the Nuzleaf that had sent it.

"Huh?" One of the trainers asked, stunned and looking around. "What's going on here? Nuzleaf, Razor Leaf!"

"Nuzleaf!" the pokemon called out as it sent the sharpened leaf blades at Ash. But again, a blur deflected the attack and sent it back at the offender.

"Show yourself!" Another trainer called out.

"Huh?" Ash opened his eyes and looked around. "Pikachu, what's going on?"

"Pika?" The Pokemon's ears went alert as the blur came by again, this time stopping before the trainers. It was a small black bird Pokemon that Ash had never seen before, but was obviously shielding him from the opponents attacks.

"Taillow Tail!" It called as it stared down at the Nuzleaf trainers.

"A Taillow!" One of the trainers shouted.

"Taillow?" Ash asked while pulling out his Pokedex.

_Taillow, the TinySwallow Pokemon. Tailow are known to be extremely courageous, and will stand their ground against even the most powerful foes. The only thing that this pokemon will take over a good battle is food, and will scavenge through forests in a flock looking for Wurmple, berries, and other sources of nourishment. Taillow is the pre-evolved form of Swellow. _The machine said.

"Well it definitely looks brave," Ash said while looking up at the pokemon as it chirped feverishly at the Nuzleaf. "Taillow, did you come to help us out?"

"Tail!" It replied confirmedly, taking a break from scolding the Nuzleaf to look over its shoulder at Ash.

"I bet that it was using its Arial Ace to block our attacks!" One of the opposing trainers spoke up.

"Hey Taillow," Ash got its attention. "Could you help us out with a Wing Attack?"

"Taillow, Tail!" It replied as it spread its wings and launched itself at the Nuzleaf.

"Dodge it!" The trainers called out, but Taillow quickly hit before the Nuzleaf could avoid the attack. It was a surprisingly powerful attack, and sent the three pokemon flying back at their trainers, defeated.

"Yeah, that's the way!" Ash called out as the Taillow flew back over to him. _Wow, this Taillow is fast_. Ash thought. _Maybe even faster than that kids Shiftry._

Without their pokemon to back them up, the trainers facing Ash grew worried.

"Let's get out of here!" One of them called and was answered with a quick agreement. Tommy was left alone as his goonies rushed off to the Rustboro Pokemon Center. As Ash walked over to him, He closed his eyes and held out his arms in a spread-eagle pose.

"Alright, give me your worst."

Ash was shocked at what he heard. "I'm not going to hurt you, Tommy." Ash said, holding Pikachu and with Taillow perched on his shoulder.

"Huh? But… I don't get it."

"What you did was wrong, but pokemon battles are all about fun and sportsmanship." Ash said wisely. "You have to take the wins and the losses without getting too upset."

"Gee… Thanks." Tommy said, looking at Ash with a hint of admiration in his eyes. "I'm really sorry for how I acted. It was way out of line."

"It's ok. But you should probably get your Shiftry to the Pokemon Center."

"Yeah," Tommy said as he looked down at his Pokeball. "Oh wait, I never caught your name"

Ash smiled. "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. And this is my partner, Pikachu."

"Tommy Kilm." The boy said, shaking one of Ash's hands as the other held Pikachu. "Maybe we could battle again sometime?"

"Yeah, definitely." Ash said with the determined smile that he always wore when it came to battling.

"Well, it was nice to meet you Ash." Tommy said as he turned in the direction that his friends had run. "And good luck with your Gym battle tomorrow."

"Thanks!" Ash said as he waved goodbye. The group of girls was still there, talking quietly and giggling while peeking over at Ash. He sighed.

"Well Taillow, I guess we have to get you back home, huh?" Ash said as he pet its head. "But where are you from anyway-"

"Taillow!" Ash heard from behind them.

"Huh?"

He turned to see a girl about Brock's age running over to them. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" She scolded the pokemon. "This Taillow hasn't been giving you trouble, has it?" She asked Ash with a look of worry over her face.

"No not at all. Actually, it just helped me out."

The girl looked pretty surprised at hearing this. "Wait… Helped you how?" she asked.

"Well I battled with it. I hope that's Ok… I was in a pretty tough spot and Taillow came to our rescue." Ash said nodding at an exhausted Pikachu that still rested in his arms.

"You mean that… you battled with _that_ Taillow?" She asked, seemingly in disbelief.

"Yeah." Ash said, confused. "Is there a problem?"

She laughed. "A problem? No, Not at all! This is fantastic!"

"What is?"

"Well you see, I'm a pokemon breeder, and I hatched that Taillow from an egg." She said, thinking back. "But no matter how hard I tried it just wouldn't listen to me. I even let other trainers borrow it, but it's always had a mind of its own. You're the first person that it's ever listened to!"

"Wow," Ash said while looking at the small flying pokemon.

"I'm Laura by the way," She said.

"Ash." He replied with a smile.

"Well, Ash I can see that you're quite the Pokemon Trainer. So let me ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Could you travel with that Taillow as its trainer? It seems to have taken a liking to you."

"Yeah, definetly!" Ash said enthusiastically, then turned to Taillow. "Would you like that, Taillow?"

"Tail! Taillow Tail!" It chirped happily while raising its wings in confirmation. Laura and Ash laughed.

"I guess that's settled, then." She said with a smile. "I'm glad to know that Taillow will be going off with a good trainer."

"But how do you know that I'm a good trainer?" Ash asked her. "We've just met."

"Taillow seems to really trust you, something that's never happened before. And that's good enough for me." She said, turning back toward the way she came from. "Now If you'll excuse me Ash, I have to run some errands. Take care of Taillow for me!"

"Of course!" Ash said with a big smile. "Goodbye!"

As the breeder turned off of the block, Ash pulled out a shiny new Pokeball.

"Welcome to the team, Taillow!" He said happily as the Pokemon was called into the device. It was the first time that Ash had caught a Pokemon so simply, without battling or anything. But as strange as this felt, Pikachu was in no condition to battle and Taillow already wanted to go with them. Ash smiled as he looked down at the Pokeball that contained his new friend.

"Pika… Pika," Pikachu said in its sleep from Ash's arms.

"I have to get you to a Pokemon Center." Ash said to himself while looking down at the resting pokemon. He looked up into the now orange sky, result of the setting sun. Ash remembered the Dance and how Brock and May would be waiting for him.

"And fast."

* * *

(**All**): _Regroup_

Brock stood in the last light from the dying sun, arms crossed and tapping his foot against the stone street. He had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity for Ash and May, who had yet to show up. He looked down at his watch, which read 7:20.

"Where are they?" Brock asked impatiently. "They should have been back by now."

He contemplated calling May on her Pokenav but decided to give them a few more minutes, a process that he had been repeating since 7:05. _I hope that they get back soon, _Brock thought worriedly to himself. _This could be my big chance to share a dance with Roxanne._ He was a little worried for their sakes, yes but with Torchic and Pikachu at their sides, Brock was sure that the two would be just fine. _I swear, if I get there and she's already dancing with another man,_ Brock began to think agitatedly when he was cut off by a voice in the distance.

"Brock! Hey!" He turned and saw May jogging toward him, a large bag in one of her hands.

"Where have you been?" He asked her as she slowed to a stop by him. "The Dance will be starting soon and we still have to get ready!"

"I'm sorry," May said apologetically. "I went dress shopping with this girl Miranda and time got away from us."

Brock sighed. "Do you know where Ash is?" He asked hopefully.

"No, I thought that he was already back with you."

Both looked up at a large clock on a building. 7:25.

"Hey guys!" the two heard and turned to see Ash running quickly toward them.

"Ash!" The two said as he had approached.

"Sorry I'm late," He said, mirroring May's apologetic tone. "I ran into some trouble and had to take Pikachu to the Pokemon Center."

The two gasped at this.

"Is Pikachu all right?" May asked anxiously.

"Yeah, Nurse Joy said that Pikachu will be just fine." Ash said with a smile. "But they're keeping it at the Pokemon Center overnight so that it can rest." He thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, and check this out!" He said while pulling out a Pokeball.

"You got a new pokemon?" Both Brock and May asked, though May's response was more excited as Brock was still in a hurry to get to the dance.

"Yup!" Ash smiled. "Alright, come on out Taillow!" He called and cast out the ball, releasing the black-and-red bird pokemon.

"That's so cool!" May said, a smile on her face as she watched the little pokemon fly in circles happily.

"Yeah, and wait until you hear how I got it!" Ash said. Brock, sensing a story coming on, cut him short.

"You can fill us in later, but right now we should really get ready for the Dance."

The other two, sensing that Brock was on edge nodded in agreement and followed him toward the Ballroom.

"Um… Brock?" Ash asked when he had realized that they were going straight to the Dance.

"Yes Ash?" Brock replied

"Why are we going to the Ballroom already? I thought that we were going to stop by the Hotel and get ready first."

"Yeah," May said, a bit of worry in her voice. "I need time to freshen up before we actually go."

Brock smiled. "Don't you two worry. They have changing rooms at the Ballroom, and we still have a while before the Dance actually starts."

The two let out a sigh of relief.

"Of course, that also means that I can keep my eyes on Roxanne until I can ask her to dance!" Brock said excitedly to himself.

"Wow, he really has this all planned out doesn't he?" May said quietly to Ash.

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "I guess he really wants that dance with her."

As they approached the giant building, Ash remembered something and turned to May.

"Hey, watcha got in that bag May?"

She gave a coy/secretive smile. "My dress for tonight."

"Ooh, can I see?" He asked her while playfully reaching for the bag. She quickly pulled it away from him.

"You'll have to wait until I change like everyone else, Ash." She said in a cutesy way. But beyond her playful act, May really did want for it to be a surprise. She remembered what Miranda said about how Ash was going to love the dress and was hoping that when he saw her in it, he would fold and ask her to dance. She had been fantasizing ever since that during the dance he would confess his feelings for her under the pink lights of the dance and they would share a deep kiss at midnight- or something like that. The group walked in through the large double-doors and were shocked to see that the inside of the building was huge. It was basically a giant dome, and most of the floor was cleared for dancing while some tables and chairs rested against a wall across the room. Only a few people were in the Ballroom so far, but then again it was only 7:45 and technically nobody was supposed to be there until 8.

"Wow," May said, examining the beautiful room decorated with all sorts of banners and streamers.

"Yeah," Brock and Ash agreed, also impressed.

"Well," Brock started, turning to the two. "Why don't we all get ready? May, I think that's the girls dressing room over there," He nodded at a door against one wall. "And me and Ash will get ready in this one over here."

"Ok!" May agreed enthusiastically and quickly walked over to the girls' changing rooms while Ash and Brock went into the rooms opposite. It was only when they had arrived in the changing rooms that Ash had realized something.

"Oh no!" Ash said, his heart sinking in his chest.

"What is it Ash?" Brock asked as he went through his backpack. (Yes, he took it with him to the dance too.)

"I forgot to pick up some dress clothes for the Dance!" Ash said while slapping his hand against his forehead. "I don't have anything to wear!" This bothered Ash mostly because he wanted to look his best. This wasn't a usual must-have for Ash, but he was really hoping to ask May to dance with him tonight and tell her how he really felt. But there was no way that he could do that now, being without any nice clothes. As Ash glumly stared at the floor, Brock chuckled.

"I had a feeling that something like this would happen, so I picked you up this." Brock said while pulling out a cloths-hanger holding a new tuxedo wrapped in plastic.

"No way!" Ash replied in disbelief. "How did you-"

Brock smiled at his friend. "May wasn't the only one that did some shopping today." He said as he pulled out a larger tux for himself.

"Thanks Brock!" Ash said appreciatively as Brock handed him the tuxedo. As Ash was finishing up with changing, Brock was already dressed and working on his hair through the mirror.

"Tonight, I make my move with Roxanne and will join her in a legendary dance under the stars," Brock went on excitedly as he washed his face.

"Sounds great, Brock." Ash said as he placed his trainer clothes neatly in Brock's backpack. "Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Brock said, and it appeared that he was about to begin game planning again when he suddenly stopped and turned to Ash. "Hey, Ash can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure." Ash said though he was a little caught off guard.

"What's going on between you and May?" Brock now looked serious.

"W-What? Nothing, why?" Ash tried to play it cool, but Brock had plenty of experience in relationships by this time and could tell that Ash was avoiding his question.

"Ash?" He asked skeptically.

"Why does it matter all of a sudden?" Ash fired back, facing Brock.

"Come on, you can't expect me to believe that the whole sleeping bag situation was just a friendly thing." Brock said firmly. "And it's not hard to see that you two can hardly keep your eyes off of each other."

"But the dance is going to be starting soon," Ash said, his last attempt at escaping the confrontation. "You don't want to miss Roxanne."

Brock checked his watch. "We have time."

Ash sighed and looked down at the floor. "You want the truth?" He asked.

"Yeah and don't leave anything out either." Brock said, smiling and facing his friend.

Ash took a breath. "Well the moment that I saw her, I was completely stunned at how beautiful she was," Ash said, a smile on his face as he thought back. "And then as we got to know each other I realized that she is really cool and… I've never felt this way about a girl before."

"Yeah, I figured that was the case." Brock said, nodding. "Have you told her how you felt?"

Ash averted his eyes, discouraged.

"No… I almost did once but we ran out of time."

Brock could see that this was a sore subject for Ash, and it was a side of him that Brock had never seen.

"Are you going to tell her tonight?" Brock asked.

Ash thought for a moment. Ever since he had heard about the dance that had been his plan. But now that the time had come he felt unsure.

"I… I don't know." Ash said quietly.

Brock smiled. "Ash, you need to do this."

"Huh?" Ash was surprised at how much Brock was into this subject.

"The way that you feel toward her is something that comes once in a lifetime. You have to tell her how you feel before it's too late."

Ash still looked a little unsure, but agreed.

"Yeah, thanks Brock." He said sincerely.

"You can do it." Brock said still with a reassuring smile on his face. "Now we should go, it's starting."

Brock's kind advice fired Ash back up, and returned some of his confidence. As the two walked out of the door, both dressed in fine black tuxedos and Ash without his trainer hat, they split up.

"I'm going to go find Roxanne," Brock said, back in strategy mode.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you after the dance, then" Ash said, looking around for May. It was now a little after 8, and the room was almost packed already. As Brock began to walk away, he stopped himself.

"Oh and Ash," He said, turning back to his friend.

"Huh?"

"Nothing is worse than regret." He said with a warm smile. "Enjoy tonight."

Ash nodded and smiled back. "You too."

With that as a goodbye, Brock split off leaving Ash to look around for May.

"Where is she?" Ash asked himself as he looked past the dancing crowd. They had started with some upbeat music, undoubtedly leaving the romantic slow songs for the end.

"I don't see her anywhere," He said, scanning the back wall where she had last been seen. Finally, his eyes rested on a familiar face by the punch table, and Ash nearly choked.

* * *

**Ok, so I found that a hugely important part of writing a fanfic, especially one with romance like this is to keep the characters true to themselves as the situation changes. So far I think that I have been doing ok with that, but what do you guys think?**

**Please review with how you feel about the chapter, as well as the story as a whole as of this point. Do you like it? Not? Have notes? I'd love to hear them all.**

**Thanks you guys!**

**-StartersoverLegends**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys. I really don't want to give anything away from this chapter, so read it and please enjoy!**

**-StartersoverLegends**

**Chapter 8**: _Turn Around_

Time froze in the large dome-shaped room while Ash Ketchum's eyes rested on May as she stood on the other side. She was over by the punch table scanning through the crowd, looking for Ash- although he didn't know it. He had to regain his composure quickly, having nearly choked in surprise at first seeing May in her dress. The pinks and whites of the overhead lights backlit her hair and seemed to make her dress shimmer before him. The dress… well, as far as Ash was concerned, seeing May in it was the most beautiful thing he had ever witnessed. Feeling the familiarity of their first encounter, Ash's eyes were glued to her, mouth slightly hanging open as he took her in. She wore her hair down, without her signature bandana on, something that greatly attracted Ash. The dress itself was strapless, leaving her shoulders exposed right above the brim of the dress. Another thing that stuck out to Ash was the fact that the dress looked tailor-made to May's size. It fit perfectly, allowing him to make out (And inevitably gawk at) her curves, while still having enough shape to look formal like all of the other dresses in the building. Nothing else mattered for a moment as Ash observed the angelic girl that waited for him. He suddenly shook his head to snap himself out of the trance that May had yet again thrown him into.

_She's… perfect. _Ash thought to himself. _And I'm supposed to tell her how I feel._ He gulped and felt his face grow hot as a sinking feeling arose in his chest. He had never been so nervous- not even as he battled in the Kanto League with thousands of people watching. He knew that she had to look a thousand- no- a million times better than he did, and felt his regained confidence shatter. Just as this happened, a girl that looked about a year or two older than May walked over to her. The two smiled and hugged, implying that they knew each other.

"Who is she?" Ash asked himself out loud as the two talked and admired each other's dresses.

"She," Ash heard from beside him, "Is my date."

Ash looked over to see a boy about Brock's age standing beside him and gazing over at the two girls with a smile on his face. Ash realized that he must have been too taken by May's beauty to have even noticed the stranger as he walked over.

"Oh." Ash said, looking back over at the girls.

"So I take it that you know the other one, then?" The boy said.

"Yeah," Ash started. "We've been traveling together for a few days, now."

"She's very beautiful," The boy said modestly. "I guess we both got really lucky, huh?"

"Well, we aren't dating or anything." Ash said, looking over at him again. "We're just friends." Ash scolded himself in his head as he said it, seeing as he and May were way past that now.

"Oh, sure." The boy said sarcastically, a mock-smile on his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked with a hint of a challenge in his voice.

"Come on, you can't seriously expect me to believe that the girl that you've been staring at for five minutes is just a 'friend_'_."

Ash hung his head. "Ok fine. You caught me."

A moment of silence passed between the two, before the boy spoke up.

"Tony."

"Huh?" Ash asked him.

"My name. It's Tony." He said, turning and holding his hand out to Ash.

"Ash." He replied, shaking it.

"Well Ash," Tony started. "Seeing as we're both in the same boat, why don't we go over there together?"

Ash smiled. "So you're nervous too, huh?"

Tony nodded, looking back over at the girls. "I just got the nerves up to ask Miranda out yesterday. It was a miracle that no other guy had asked her already."

"At least you could ask her out," Ash said, discouraged. "I was going to ask May tonight."

"I'll tell you what," Tony continued on. "I'll back you up, and you do the same for me. Deal?"

"Sounds good to me!" Ash said with relief in his voice that he wasn't going it alone tonight.

"Then let's go," Tony said as the two began to cross the floor past dancing couples to their dates. As they approached, Miranda noticed them and said something to May, who turned to face the approaching boys. She smiled kindly at ash, who smiled back in the hopes that she wouldn't notice the redness that had formed on his face.

"Well, well." Miranda said playfully to Tony. "I was starting to think you bailed on me."

"I thought that was more of your thing." Tony shot back with a smile.

"So _you're_ Tony," May said, greeting him. "Miranda has told me so much about you!"

"Oh yeah?" Tony asked, looking at Miranda "Like what?"

"That is on a need-to-know basis." Miranda replied, wearing a coy smile. "And _you_ don't need to know."

Then she turned to face Ash, looking to change the subject.

"So you must be Ash, right?" She asked.

"That's me." Ash replied.

Miranda looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. "Wow, May's description of you was spot on."

May looked over at her with a nervous expression, afraid that Miranda might say more. Luckily for her, though, Miranda left it at that. The group of teenagers talked for a bit together, about preparation for the dance and sharing stories. But when a song in Miranda's favor echoed throughout the building, she took her date for a dance, leaving Ash and May alone. The two shyly smiled as they avoided eye contact. As it turned out, Ash didn't have to worry about not looking good to May. He hadn't noticed it, but as he and Tony crossed over to her she was amazed at how good Ash looked in a tux. Since then she struggled not to stare at her friend, a battle that Ash was fighting too. Despite the upbeat and happy atmosphere around them, the moment was tense and awkward between the two. Although they had talked together countless times throughout their travels so far, tonight both found themselves at a loss of words- ironic given that both had a seemingly endless list of things to tell the other. Finally, after minutes of killer silence between the two, both decided to speak up.

"Ash," May started "May," Ash said at the very same moment, canceling each other out. Both laughed, easing the tention marginally.

"Go ahead," May said politely, really more interested in what he had to say, anyway.

"No, you," Ash practically sighed, relieved that he could procrastinate.

"Okay," May said with a shy smile. "There's something that I really have to tell you, and I've been wanting to say it for a while now."

"Sure, anything." Ash said, curious at what it was.

"Ash," She said, looking him in the eyes while still holding her shy smile. "I-"

"Oh, look who it is!" May was cut off as three girls of about their age that walked over to them, each in a different dress. "Ash, the hotshot!"

While May was confused as to how these three random girls knew Ash, He recognized them to be a part of the group of tag-alongs that had followed Tommy around.

"Oh… hey." Ash said, looking from them to May with a apprehensive expression.

"So who is this?" One of the girls asked, eyeballing May intimidatingly.

"I'm May," She spoke up before Ash could. "His friend."

The girl gave a sarcastic snort, attempting to mess with May. "Come on, Ash. You should come and hang with us."

"Sorry, but we're kind of talking right now." Ash said, wanting out of the conversation.

"Hm." The girl said, giving May a death-stare. "Let's go." And with that, the three girls walked away, mumbling hatred under their breaths.

"I'm sorry," Ash said, turning to May and smiling apologetically.

"Who were those girls?" May asked, confused.

"They kind of watched me battle earlier," Ash said, rubbing the back of his head. "I don't really know them."

"Oh, ok." May said, although in her head she was thinking _'Then why did they know your name?'._

"So what were you saying?" Ash encouraged her to continue.

"Oh, um… I wanted to tell you that-"

"Hey, Ash!" Cut off again by familiar voices. As Ash turned to face two more girls who approached them, May was getting extremely aggravated. Telling Ash how she felt wasn't easy, and all of these interruptions weren't making it any easier. And besides that, she was starting to feel as though Ash was paying more attention to them than to her- which hurt.

"Oh, hey." Ash said politely.

"You should come and dance by us," One of the girls offered to him. May was astonished.

"Sorry, but we're kind of talking right now." Ash looked at May and then back at the two.

Again, the girls obliged, although they looked agitatedly at May.

"I'm sorry," Ash repeated, oblivious to how much his familiarity with these girls was offending May.

"It's… ok." She said trying to regain her calm. "Anyway, what I've been trying to say is that I-"

"See? I told you it was Ash!" Another group of girls was coming over. But just as Ash turned to the group as he had the two times prior, May exploded.

"Fine!" She yelled, unable to hold it in any longer. "If you'd rather spend time with all of these girls that you've just met than with me, then I'll just go!"

"Wait, May!" Ash called after her, but she was already running toward the exit, tears blurring her vision. As she exited the building, many of the dancers stopped and turned to face Ash, looks of distaste on their faces.

"What's _her_ problem?" one of the girls asked but Ash was already running after May.

"May!" He called as he exited the dome into the chilly night. "May, come back!" He looked left and right, but with no sign of her. The only one in the Ballroom yard was a maintenance man who was emptying trash cans.

"Excuse me," Ash said loudly so that the man could hear. "Did you see a girl run through here just now?"

"Yes sir," The man said as he turned to face Ash. "She came through here looking real upset and took off around the side of the building there." The man gestured to the left of the Ballroom.

"Thanks!" Ash said hurriedly as he ran off in the direction that May had went.

As he walked in the dark shadow of the building, he was constantly calling out her name. "May! Please, can we just talk?" Finally, he could see some light past the looming building's darkness. As he stepped out from behind the gloom, he was met by a beautiful back section that he hadn't even known existed. The ground was paved with stones that could be made out beneath the lights that hung from poles along the path. It seemed that this place was decorated like the inside, but nobody was out here. Nobody except for a girl who sat alone on the edge of a large stone fountain, which rested at the end of the stone path.

"May!" Ash called, recognizing her immediately and jogging over to her. But she was facing away from him, looking down into the water of the fountain with her shoulders shaking.

"May?" Ash asked as he slowed to a walk.

"I-I'm fine." He heard her say as a teardrop fell from her chin and joined the water in the fountain.

He stopped next to her. "Could you just look at me, please?" he asked her.

She shook her head, and Ash sighed.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I should have never interrupted you for those girls. But I really don't know them."

He was met by silence as another teardrop hit the water.

Ash really didn't know what to do. He had never found himself in a situation like this before, and was at a loss of words. Suddenly, he remembered what Brock had said to him about regret and took a breath. It seemed that all that he had left to say was what he thought.

"May, you mean so much more to me than any of those girls ever will." He said, feeling steadily more angry at himself at hearing the truth in his own words. "If I had a second chance, I would turn them all away just to hear what you had to say."

She turned slightly toward him, he had caught her attention.

"And right now, I would give anything for you to say anything to me."

He was met with silence, although she wiped her eyes. Ash sighed, realizing that the only thing that he had left to say was what he had wanted to tell her all along. He gulped.

"May," He started. "I… I've never felt the way I feel about you toward anyone before."

She slowly turned to face him completely. She had teardrops laced throughout her eyelashes and the fountain behind her sprayed a shimmering mist that made her look even more beautiful than she had when they were inside. Ash took a deep breath, and then continued.

"From the very first moment that I met you, I knew that you were the only girl that I would ever feel this way about."

She looked into his face, her deep blue eyes entrancing him.

"Feel what way about?" She asked quietly, a slight blush over her face as she looked up at him intently.

"I… I don't know." Ash couldn't believe that he was still at a loss of words about the subject. Realizing that carefully planning his words wouldn't help him here, he decided to just say what was on his heart.

"May, I think that you are the most beautiful girl alive, and every time I'm around you I feel like everything's going to be ok, no matter what's going on- and I feel like I'm always supposed to be with you." He went on. "You make me so happy- and I would do anything for you, and"

The next words that came out of Ash's mouth stunned them both.

"I love you May Maple, and I just really don't want to lose you!"

They both stared at each other through the light of the stars, mixed subtly with the dim dance lights. Ash couldn't believe what had just come from his mouth- he hadn't known that he had truly loved May, let alone planned to tell her that. But as the moment passed and May did nothing in return but sit on the fountain's edge and stare up at him in surprise, Ash thought that maybe he had taken it too far. Embarrassed and discouraged, he began to turn toward the building. But right as he started to move, May jumped up at him. Wrapping her arms around his head and pushing her soft, warm lips against his, she held him in an affectionate embrace. He was too surprised to kiss back, and after about a second she pulled her lips off of his and looked to the ground with a blush.

"I'm sorry," She said shyly.

"Don't be." Ash said with a smile.

"Huh?" May looked up at him and was caught off-guard as he returned her kiss. Ash had stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her back, planting his lips against hers as the fountain's mist sparkled in the background. After realizing what was happening, May closed her eyes and returned his kiss, placing one hand around his head like before and the other lightly on his cheek. As the two stood there, kissing passionately, both wished that the moment would last forever. The warmth of the other's lips against theirs confirmed both Ash and May's suspicions up until this point that they loved each other. But after what felt like a weightless eternity, the two parted from each other and smiled into the other's eyes, faces still held close.

"I love you too," May said softly as her cerulean blue eyes shone.

Both had an uplifting feeling in their hearts, like nothing could ever be wrong again. And although May hadn't said it, her kiss told Ash exactly how she felt about him. As the duo stood, arms still around each other, slow music from inside of the Ballroom drifted out to them. Both recognized the slow, romantic song and Ash decided to say something.

"May, do you want to-"

"Yes." May said with a warm smile. "I would like that very much."

Ash then lowered his hands to hold her by her waist while May rested her arms on his shoulders in a slow-dancing position. As the relaxed music lingered around the two, they gently swayed back and forth while never taking their eyes off of the other's. After a while, May rested her head on Ash's chest. He blushed but smiled, looking up at the stars as he held her. Maybe it was just the moment, but the moon looked exceptionally big, accompanied by stars that shone like millions of diamonds that smiled down upon them. They danced like that for hours, hardly saying a word to each other as they wanted to savor the moment as much as possible. Finally, though, their moment of shared perfection waned with a familiar voice in the distance.

"May! Ash! Where are you? It's time to go!" They heard Brock's voice from around the building and May looked up and gave Ash a smile.

"I guess we should probably go, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah." Ash smiled down at her with his chestnut eyes. As they parted and made their way back toward the building, Ash reached out and held May's hand.

"There you are!" Brock said as they rounded the building. "Where were you guys? I've been looking all over for you two!"

The couple merely smiled at each other.

"We just came out for some fresh air," May said.

"Yeah." Ash agreed.

"Well, you really shouldn't run off like that." Brock started a lecture, but was cut off by May.

"Oh, did you ever get your dance with Roxanne?" She asked as hordes of people were leaving the building and dispersing into the city.

Brock smiled. "No, but I think that it was all for the best."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked as the trio began to walk toward their awaiting hotel.

"I may not have had my legendary dance with Roxanne," Brock started. "But I did meet this amazing girl named Laura."

"Wait," Ash said, facing his friend. "Does this Laura happen to be a Pokemon Breeder?"

Brock looked over at Ash with a confused expression. "You know her?"

"Apparently Ash knows everyone in this town." May joked while nudging him with their held hand.

"Well," Ash said to Brock. "If you would have listened to my story earlier you would have known all of this already."

And with that, the group entered their hotel- still with many adventures to come.

* * *

**FINALLY! So now that Ash and May are finally together, what do you guys think? Keep those reviews coming! **

**I'm still planning on keeping the story going, and have a ton of ideas for future adventures and ways to take the romance to the next level, so I still really need reviews. Feedback is the best way for me to figure out how you guys feel.**

**Anyway, the story got up to 1000 views the day after I posted chapter 7, which is awesome! thank you guys so much for your continued support.**

**By the way, If you don't want to make your thoughts public, feel free to PM me anytime with any ideas, comments, questions or hate mail (If you really hate the story.)**

**Thanks as always!**

**-StartersoverLegends**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys. So after some thinking I've decided that the story will continue, if that's what you all want. I should warn you, though. At this rate, the story is going to be really long. So if you like short stories or one-shots over full ones like this, then you might enjoy some of my other fics more. **

**Anyway, please review after you've read it and tell me what you think. Suggestions? Criticism? Or maybe just let me know how i'm doing. I love your input and take it all to heart when writing a story. So, without further ado, Chapter 9.**

**Enjoy!**

**- Startersoverlegends**

**Chapter 9: **_Battle Beginnings_

The dull moments ticked away with no noticeable haste. Slowly, Ash Ketchum could almost feel himself growing older as he lay in bed alone. Eyes adjusted to the dim light, he could just make out his surroundings in the dark hotel room. It wasn't much- three beds for each of the travelers, a dresser, two doors (One leading to the bathroom and the other out into the hotel hallway), and a large window from which the moon's subtle light drifted in. This allowed the teen to see fairly well in the cozy room. The only sounds were those of Brock's rhythmic breathing, a sign that he was fast asleep in the bed on the other side of May's. Ash allowed his eyes to rest on her curved form, which was faced away from him as she rested on her side. A smile spread onto his face as he thought back to tonight's achievement. He had_ finally_ told her how he felt and was in-turn met by her warm lips against his. His head had been on a constant loop ever since, replaying their two separate kisses over and over as the fact that they were finally together soaked in. The weightlessness had still not subsided from his chest and he felt extremely lighthearted. Despite this, however, Ash was completely unable to rest. He had tried for what seemed like an eternity to close his eyes and drift off into a place where he and May kissed until the morning tore him away, but with no success. He was totally exhausted but also wide awake. In part this had to do with the Gym battle that waited for him the following day, but Ash also felt as if he was missing something. Like without it, he might not ever sleep again. Or maybe that was just him being melodramatic as a result of sleep deprivation. The truth was that Ash wanted to be closer to May. He recalled the sleeping bag incident that had taken place the previous night and how well he had slept as the two caressed each other. It was easily the best night's sleep he had ever experienced- Just feeling her warmth, her form, the fact that she was really there in his arms had immediately put him at ease. With great longing he returned his gaze to her as she rested in her own bed.

_Is she asleep?_ Ash thought as he watched her side rise and fall with light breaths. But even if she was awake, Brock was in the room too. And besides, he had no idea how to ask her for what he wanted. Sure, they had been in a similar situation before, but it was only out of her pity for him… wasn't it? Ash still wasn't sure. He had woken up the next morning with her arms around him and her head resting on his chest, after all. Did that mean that she enjoyed it too? As his head was buzzing with questions, May was just steps away being tormented by the same thing. Having no luck in finding sleep, she had also turned her mind to their night spent in each other's arms for comfort. After a while with these things in mind she couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey Ash, are you up?" She whispered through the dark, still facing away but awaiting a reply.

"Yeah." He answered through the silence, somewhat surprised that she was awake.

At hearing his voice she rolled over in her bed to face him. She gave him a warm smile through the dusk, which he mirrored.

"I just can't sleep tonight." She admitted to him.

"I know what you mean; I can hardly even close my eyes."

She smiled as she realized that he wanted the same thing that she did. Slowly she removed the covers from on top of her and stood.

"Scoot over." She said in a friendly way as she took a step over to his bed.

Ash immediately obliged. It had come out of nowhere but by now he was starting to get used to her sudden romantic advances. Now with ample room, she climbed under his covers and faced him with a smile- which he returned. After a few quiet moments, May decided to take a shot and find out what was on his mind.

"Are you still thinking about the kiss too?" She asked.

"Yeah." He replied. "Actually, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."

Feeling a romantic moment coming, May sat up a bit.

"Do you want to do it again?" she asked shyly, but with more confidence now knowing how he felt.

His response was to place a hand on her cheek and place his lips against hers. Again, a fluttering sensation came over the couple as their lips connected and eventually separated. Satisfied, they embraced as the telltale signs of sleep arose.

"I'm so happy that we're together." She smiled as she felt her eyes grow heavy.

"Me too." He replied, holding her a little closer. In the warmth of the other's arms, the two restless teens quickly faded into sleep.

* * *

As the first golden rays of sun flittered in through the room's only window, May's eyes slowly opened and blinked. She was still holding onto Ash from the night before. It was somewhat of a de ja vu moment, but this time Brock wasn't there to wake them up.

_Oh no, Brock!_ She thought in a panic as she jolted up and looked across the room to his bed. Luckily for her and Ash though, he was still fast asleep with small snores coming from his side of the room. May let out a relieved sigh and then turned back to look at Ash. He was also fast asleep (despite her sudden jolt) and looked totally worn out from the other day. With a soft giggle May rose out of bed and made for the door, stopping only to grab her bandana as she started for the hotel restaurant. As usual, she was starving.

* * *

"Ash, hey Ash wake up."

"Huh?"

Ash stirred in bed and opened his eyes to see Brock looking down at him with arms crossed.

"Do you know where May is? She's not in the room."

Groggily, Ash sat up and rubbed his eyes. Brock was right- May was nowhere to be seen. For a moment in his half-asleep state Ash pondered if the events of the previous night were nothing more than a dream. Turning and stretching as he rose from the bed, Ash realized something.

"Knowing May she probably just went to look for food. She couldn't have gone too far."

Brock nodded. "Good point. We could check the Hotel restaurant after we get ready."

Before long, the two trainers were dressed up in a fresh set of clothes and making for the door of their room. After taking an elevator down a few floors and crossing through several hallways, the two entered the large dining room. In it were several long tables draped with white tablecloths, and in the back were a set of counters filled with platters of breakfast foods and utensils. Through the few people who ate happily in the room Ash instantly picked out the girl of his dreams eating rapidly at a table near the back.

"There she is," Ash told Brock as he started to cross over to her. May had just finished an impressive stack of pancakes when Ash took a seat next to her and Brock across the table from the two. Immediately Ash reached over and held her now open hand from under the table, out of Brock's line of sight.

"I was starting to wonder when you guys would wake up. Torchic and I were starting to worry." May smiled at the little orange pokemon as it pecked happily at its pokefood beside the table.

"Sorry, I guess we just overslept." Brock apologized. "How come you were up so early May?"

Honestly, she didn't even know why. It was just dumb luck that one of them had woken up before Brock had. Seeing as she could easily sleep in until noon if she wanted to, May was just happy that it had worked out so that Brock hadn't seen them cuddling two mornings in a row.

"I don't know," May ran through excuses as she turned to face Brock. "I guess it's just a new day with new opportunity."

Brock smiled. "That's the spirit!"

"So, what are we doing today?" She asked.

"Well, I'm sure that Ash is rearing to go to his Gym match." Brock replied.

"You bet!" Ash smiled. But quickly the look of excitement and determination turned to a look of worry. "But first I really want to go to the Pokemon Center and check on Pikachu."

May noticed his worry as he said this and tried to reassure him.

"I'm sure Pikachu's fine. You trust Nurse Joy don't you?" She asked.

"Yeah, but me and Pikachu are _always _together." Ash admitted. "Last night was the first time that I think we've ever been apart for more than a few hours. I just really want to see him again…"

As he trailed off, May squeezed his hand comfortingly and he gave her a smile. Brock, who caught the action, remembered something.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Did you two ever get to-"

"Hey Ash, they've got some really great pancakes over there. Here, I'll show you!" May cut him off as she practically dragged Ash away, blushing badly.

"Hmm…" Brock crossed his arms as he watched the two talk and giggle over by the counters. _Something's up with those two. _He thought as he observed them. After the group had eaten, (Ash hardly any because of his excitement for the upcoming battle) they headed out into the midmorning sun towards the pokemon center.

"Wow, it's such a beautiful day!" May exclaimed as she spread her arms to soak in the warm sunlight. Naturally May was drawn to storefronts and shops like a moth to a flame, causing the group to make several stops along the way for her to inspect merchandise through shop windows. Brock also stopped at many points along the way to check Potion prices and ingredients for Pokefood. Although glad that May and even Brock were enjoying themselves, Ash was getting steadily less patient. He really wanted to see Pikachu- and beside that he was getting restless at the thought of his Gym battle. Finally, the large red building could be seen in the distance and Ash immediately took off for it.

"Come on!" He shouted as he ran excitedly to the center doors. As they opened automatically, (A common feature in large cities) Ash stepped in and immediately started looking for Nurse Joy. May and Brock followed several steps behind him.

"You didn't… have to take off like that!" Brock scolded. May however had already recovered from their run and was now inspecting the interior of the building with interest.

"It's so much different from the one in Petalburg City!" May marveled as she looked around the fabricated waiting room.

"Almost all Pokemon Centers are different." Brock said with a smile. "Usually the ones in big cities like this are higher-end. But me and Ash have stayed in some really nice country Centers too."

"Wow, I had no idea," May said as she looked over at a large pink pokemon wearing a nurse's hat. "Hey what's that?"

"Huh?" Brock followed her gaze. "Oh, that's just Chansey. It's Nurse Joy's assistant and friend at just about any Pokemon Center that you go to."

"That's so cool!" May said as her eyes drifted through the room. Suddenly something caught her gaze and she let out a gasp.

"What' wrong May?" Brock asked as a look of awe came over May's face. But by the time he had said it, she was already running across the room.

"Excuse me," May said as she slowed and stopped in front of an older-looking woman holding a small pink pokemon. "What kind of pokemon is that?"

The woman let out a chuckle and lifted up the catlike pokemon in her hands.

"Oh I see you've noticed my precious Skitty!" the woman said in a proud voice as she cuddled her face against the creature.

"Skitty?" May asked. "You don't mind if I pet it, do you?"

The woman let out another chuckle. "My Skitty-witty has a simply divine coat!" She boasted affectionately as she held it out for May to touch. "It's won us some contests, now hasn't it dear?"

The pokemon smiled and gave a mew as it jumped into May's arms. It was too much for her to bear.

"Oh, I just have to have one!" May exclaimed as she snuggled the affectionate pokemon. It was even softer than it looked and mewed happily as May held it.

"You know dear," The woman started as the Skitty hopped back into its owner's arms. "I caught this Skitty just outside of the city in a small patch of woods just past the Gym. If you have the time you could try your luck too."

"That sounds perfect!" May smiled as she imagined having a soft lovable Skitty of her own.

"They're also a big favorite in Pokemon Contests." The woman went on. "Why, if it wasn't for my age we would still be raking in the ribbons."

"Pokemon… Contests?" May asked with her head slightly tilted. She had never heard of it before. But before she could ask the woman what she was talking about a voice called to her from the door.

"May, we're going to Ash's Gym battle now. You're coming right?" Brock.

"Of course!" May said as she turned for the exit. "Thanks for showing me your Skitty miss!" She said to the woman.

"Oh, anytime dear." The woman replied as she started to stroke her precious partner's head again.

As May exited the building Brock and Ash were waiting for her. Perched on Ash's shoulder was the small yellow pokemon that she hadn't seen since yesterday morning.

"Oh hello Pikachu!" She said as she lovingly scratched it under its chin. "It looks like you're feeling better, huh?"

"Pika Pika!" It responded happily at the attention.

"That's right!" Ash said. "Now we're ready for our Gym battle!"

May was happy to see that he was acting normal again. She smiled at his readiness to fight, which Pikachu enthusiastically mirrored.

"Well, should we get going then?" Brock asked with a smile and the group started to make their way to the Rock Gym. Alongside Ash, May was also really excited to witness the battle. Despite her Dad owning a Gym she had never witnessed a real Gym Battle. It also helped that it was Ash who was fighting and not just some stranger.

"Hey Ash," Brock began as they walked.

"Yeah?"

"I just realized something. You have a major Type disadvantage in this battle."

"You're right." Ash replied with a smile. "But I have the perfect strategy."

May looked confused. "What do you mean by 'Type disadvantage'?"

Brock smiled, remembering that May was still a new Trainer and decided to fill her in.

"You see May, every pokemon has a set Type that depends on the species."

"Yeah I know. Like how Torchic is a fire type, right?" She asked.

"Exactly." Brock continued. "But Type has more of an effect on the pokemon than just what moves it can learn."

"What do you mean?" She asked as she looked over at him.

"Well, the Type of a pokemon plays a big part in how it battles. Certain Types are more effective against others and vice versa. For example, Fire Type is great against a Grass Type pokemon, but would have trouble facing a Water Type opponent. This is commonly known as a Type disadvantage."

"Oh ok." May replied. Luckily she had Max as a brother, whose constant rambling on about pokemon technicalities had over time etched all of the different pokemon Types into her mind. Still, she was a little confused on the subject. "So what Type does Roxanne use?"

"Rock Type," Brock replied. "The same as me. This makes the battle tougher for Ash, seeing as he has Electric and Flying Type pokemon."

"But we'll be okay." Ash said confidently. "I have a plan."

May had never seen him looking so confident about something before. But then again, he had battled against the best in Johto, meaning that he had the experience to back this behavior up. As the group approached the large stone brick building, awe and excitement permeated the air.

"Roxanne!" Ash called as they entered the large wooden doors. "I, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, challenge you!"

There was a moment of silence before a woman's voice could be heard.

"I've been waiting for you."

Suddenly, the overhead lights flicked on, illuminating a large stone battlefield with a familiar woman waiting on the opposite end. With a confident smirk, the Gym leader spoke.

"I Roxanne, leader of the Rustboro City Gym, accept your challenge!"

As May and Brock made their way to the viewing stands on the sidelines of the battlefield Ash readied himself on the side facing Roxanne.

"This is so exciting!" May said as she kept an eye on Ash. She knew that if she was in his shoes right now she'd be shaking with nervousness, but for some reason Ash seemed completely calm.

"I'm just interested to see Ash's big strategy." Brock said as he leaned forward in his seat for a better view.

"Can the referee please judge the battle?" Roxanne called and a kid of about 17 approached midfield.

"Yes, Miss Roxanne." The kid said obediently, leading Ash to believe that he was one of her students.

"This will be a standard single battle where each trainer will only be permitted to use two pokemon. Substitutions are allowed for the challenger only. The trainer with the at least one pokemon still able to battle by the end is the winner. Does the challenger accept these conditions?"

"Sure do!" Ash replied enthusiastically.

"Then let the battle begin!" The boy shouted out and both trainers threw their choices.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys. You know the drill, review at the end if you feel up to it.**

**Enjoy!**

**-StartersoverLegends**

**Chapter 10**: _Rock n' Rollout _

"Go, Geodude!" Roxanne called out as she threw a pokeball out onto the battlefield and released the small rock pokemon, who let out a growl as it prepared to fight.

"I choose you, Taillow!" Ash said as he cast his own ball out at the same time, letting out the flying type.

Roxanne in her corner smiled at seeing her opponent's choice. After studying extensively both in an academic setting and in the field she had become somewhat judgmental of her opponents in battle. This was the case for most, unless their strategy had been something that she hadn't seen coming. But despite the obvious amusement she got from the terrible Type matchup before her, she didn't say anything to Ash about it.

"Ash is going to have to be really careful here." Brock said to May without taking his eyes off of the trainers. "Taillow won't be able to take too many Rock-type attacks."

"Yeah…" May agreed as she still tried to figure out Ash's strategy for winning this.

After a moment of silence where the trainers and pokemon sized each other up, Ash made the first move.

"Taillow, use Arial Ace, now!" Ash commanded his pokemon. With a nod, Taillow tucked in its wings and dove at its target as a blur. The attack hit its mark perfectly, knocking Geodude back about a foot.

"Yeah, that's the way!" May cheered as she jumped up, but Brock merely shook his head. "What's wrong? That was a perfect hit!" May asked Brock as he let out a grunt.

"He used a Flying Type move against a Rock opponent. That wasn't a very effective decision on Ash's part. Just take a look at Geodude."

"Huh?" May looked over to see that Geodude was left without so much as a scratch. Without much effort, it regained its lost ground as if nothing had happened. Suddenly her face grew bright red at realizing how inexperienced she must have looked and sat back down with a nervous giggle.

Roxanne chuckled at the amateur move choice and crossed her arms as well.

"Come on Ash, you can't honestly expect for that kind of attack to do anything to my rock pokemon." She teased. "You'll have to find a better strategy than that if you hope to beat _me_."

But despite what she said, Ash simply smiled and called out for another attack.

"Taillow, another Arial Ace now!"

"Taillow!" It cried as it pulled off another successful hit. And like the last time, Geodude shrugged the hit off like it was nothing.

Roxanne sighed. "Does he ever learn? Geodude use Tackle!"

"Geo!" her pokemon called as it flung itself at Taillow.

"Dodge and then use another Arial Ace!" Ash ordered. Taillow glided out of the attack's path with ease and launched into another Arial Ace.

_What's he up to?_ Roxanne thought as she scrutinized the possibilities. _He looks awfully confident over there…_

Ash indeed did look as though he knew exactly what he was doing. With a determined smile, he called out his next move.

"Taillow, use three Arial Ace's in a row, go!"

"Tai!" the pokemon cried obediently as it circled its target.

"Wow, Taillow seems to really trust Ash already." May observed from the stands.

"Yeah it sure does." Brock replied.

In an instant Taillow closed in and made three solid hits with the attack, throwing Geodude around but hardly doing any damage. Unable to see what was going on, Roxanne grew agitated and called for a counterattack.

"Geodude, use Tackle again!" She called as her pokemon tried to regain its composure from among the barrage of attacks.

"Geo!" It cried as it threw itself at Taillow once more. But seeing as Taillow already had an impressive amount of momentum from all of the Arial Aces, Geodude's attack didn't even come close. Instead, it left an opening for Taillow to attack the recovering pokemon from behind. Ash's eyes shone.

"Now Taillow, use Quick Attack!"

The actual attack couldn't even be seen at this speed. There was simply a blur before Geodude was sent flying onto its face by the increased impact of the move from behind. Suddenly Roxanne noticed what was going on and smiled. _Not bad._ She thought as she contemplated her next move.

"Yeah Ash!" May jumped up and pounded her fists in the air in support of her boyfriend (After seeing that the move actually did something this time.)

"So that's it." Brock said with a smile. "Ash is using Taillow's increased natural speed along with the speed gained by using Arial Ace to leave Geodude vulnerable to non-Flying moves. This also lulls his opponent into a false sense of complacency as the attacks do little damage."

"Oh I get it." May said as she sat back down. "But it looks like Roxanne figured it out too. What's Ash going to do now?"

"I guess we'll just have to watch and see." Brock replied as he studied the emotions on Roxanne's face.

"Geodude, can you keep going?" She asked and her pokemon slowly rose.

"Geo…" It replied weakly, but still determined to battle.

Roxanne smirked. "I think I've had enough of these games. Geodude, use Rock Throw, now!"

Immediately Geodude picked up two boulders from the Gym floor and chucked them at the bird pokemon.

"Dodge it with Agility then use Quick Attack again!" Ash called out. Taillow quickly obliged and wove through the oncoming rocks without so much as a scratch. It then went for a finishing move.

"Taiiilow!" It screeched as it dove at the ground with Geodude in its sights.

"No!" Roxanne called out, but was cut off as the impact sent up a mushroom cloud of dust that effectively curtained the two pokemon. Within a moment Taillow circled out from the debris and back over to Ash's side. As all eyes were glued to the attack's effect, a shape could finally be made out laying unconscious in the center of the commotion.

"Geodude is unable to battle!" The ref called as he waved a flag in Ash's direction. "Taillow is the winner!"

"Yeah Taillow, you did it!" Ash praised his pokemon as his friends cheered for him from the stands.

"Taillow, Tail!" It replied happily as it smiled back at its trainer.

"Geodude, return." Roxanne said as she recalled the pokemon into its capsule. "You did great."

Back at the stands, Brock and May were just taking their seats again when Brock spoke up.

"You know, I get the feeling that something's not quite right…" he said as he eyeballed the Gym leader.

"What is it?"

"I get the feeling that Roxanne was using Geodude to see Ash's battling strategy." Brock started. "Now that she knows his style, I wouldn't be surprised if she finds a way to counter it somehow."

"You think so?" May asked as she looked over at Ash. He still had that confident look in his eyes, although now there was also a look of rising concentration. Roxanne on the other hand had drawn another pokeball and smiled at Ash as if she now had a secret of her own.

"Not bad Ash. You had me thinking that this was going to be an easy battle, but obviously you know a thing or two about pokemon battling strategy."

"Sure do!" Ash replied with resolve gleaming in his eyes. "And I plan on using all that I know in this battle!"

Roxanne nodded. "I would expect nothing less from a challenger like you. Now let's see what you're really made of. Nosepass, I choose you!"

As she threw her next choice out, the ball erupted into a flash of color that took on the shape of a pokemon. It looked to be made of some sort of smooth stone, with no really prominent features except for the unnaturally large metallic nose that composed a decent amount of its front side.

"What's that pokemon?" May asked to no one in particular as she pulled out and aimed her Pokedex at the creature.

_Nosepass, the Compass Pokemon._ The machine stated in its electronic whirr of a voice. _Nosepass never gets lost in the wild, as its nose-like appendage can detect Northern direction on command. It has been used for centuries to guide people at sea._

"Nosepass huh?" Brock said as he took in the matchup. "This could be interesting."

May opened her mouth to ask why, but before she could the second round began.

"Taillow, use Agility!" Ash commanded. Taillow immediately began to cut through the air as it increased its speed.

"Nosepass, use Rock Tomb!" Roxanne called out and Nosepass raised its arms. Suddenly the battlefield began to shake as large boulders rose into the air around it and hovered at the ready.

"Nosepass!" It cried as it lowered its arms and sent the rocks hurdling at Taillow.

"Dodge it with Arial Ace!" Ash shouted out and Taillow quickly avoided the rocks, flying to a point directly behind its opponent. Seeing an opening, Ash tried for an attack. "Now use Quick Attack!"

"Tai!" The bird pokemon cried as it again went diving down at Nosepass. But right as it began its speedy decent, a smirk formed on Roxanne's face.

"Nosepass, use your nose and then use Tackle!"

"Huh?" Ash asked, confused by the 'use your nose' part. Suddenly though, his questions were answered as Nospeass spun 180 degrees at its attacker and launched into a Tackle. Before Ash could even muster a command, Nosepass's rock-hard body collided with Taillow's and sent it spiraling to the ground hard.

"Tail!" The pokemon cried out in surprise and pain at hitting the ground.

"Taillow!" Ash exclaimed in shock. Nosepass had countered the attack as if it knew exactly which direction that Taillow was descending from. Roxanne on the other hand seemed very amused.

"Still haven't figured it out Ash?" She called across to him.

"Ash!" He could hear May trying to get his attention from the stands. "It's nose works like a compass! You can't sneak up on it!"

Suddenly Ash could hear Roxanne from across the battlefield calling another move.

"Quick Nosepass, while it's on the ground use Rollout!"

"Taillow get up, quick!" Ash exclaimed, but right as the words left his mouth a quickly rolling Nosepass slammed into the struggling pokemon, sending Taillow's small bird form shooting through the air back towards Ash. With a thud the bird pokemon landed in a heap before him, out of the fight.

"Taillow is unable to battle! Nosepass is victor!" The ref made his call as he waved his flag in Roxanne's favor.

"Good work, Nosepass." She said happily as the pokemon made what seemed to be a smile.

"Taillow, return." Ash said downcast as the unconscious form of his pokemon recalled into its pokeball. "You did great." He said to the red and white ball that rested in his palm. "Now take a long rest."

"What will the challenger's next pokemon be?" The ref called over to Ash.

"You ready buddy?" Ash asked the yellow pokemon that still sat contently on his shoulder.

"Pika pika!" It replied in a gutsy voice as it hopped onto the ground and got into its signature battle stance.

_So I can't sneak up on this thing…_ Ash thought as he eyeballed the rocklike pokemon. _And I can't leave Pikachu exposed, or it might get hit by that Rollout attack…_

Suddenly he knew what to do. With fire in his eyes, Ash prepared to battle.

"Alright, let's do this Pikachu!"

Back at the stands, Brock and May were both focused intently on the battle- Brock's head buzzing with strategy and possible outcomes while May was thinking about how cool it was to _finally_ see a real Gym battle.

"Ash had better watch out." Brock said to her. "That Rollout attack was pretty strong."

"Yeah, it almost took Taillow out in one hit." May agreed. "But as long as Ash doesn't get too restless, he and Pikachu should be fine right?"

"Well kind of." Brock replied. "Rollout is a move that does more damage the more turns that it is used consecutively in battle."

"Wait… You mean that move can be even worse?" May was a little surprised at how in-depth some of these attacks were.

"Mm hm." Brock nodded as he cast his eyes out to the two trainers. Both wore looks of extreme concentration as they sized the other up. Then, as random as a lightning bolt, both called out to their pokemon. For May this somewhat resembled one of the gunfights that she always used to see in western movies as a kid.

"Nosepass, use Rock Throw!" Roxanne called out.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!"

As a boulder flew at Pikachu, it zigzagged with impressive speed to dodge then launched itself at Nosepass.

"Use Tackle!" Roxanne ordered in response.

"Pikachu, dodge to the left now!"

Ash knew that Nosepass was much heavier than Pikachu, and so the attack would naturally do more harm to it than to Nosepass. As Pikachu sidestepped and allowed Nosepass to charge by, Ash saw an opportunity.

"Use Iron Tail!"

Roxanne's eyes grew wide, caught off-guard by this move that was rare in pokemon like Pikachu.

"Nosepass, use your nose and then use Rollout!"

Nosepass stopped it's Tackle on a dime and whipped around to face Pikachu. Now it was Ash who was caught off-guard.

"Give It all you've got!" Ash shouted. "I know you can do this!"

"Don't back down!" Roxanne demanded as the two pokemon reached each other. As soon as Nosepass was in reach, Pikachu spun and hit Nosepass full-force with its Steel attack. But just as this attack hit, Nosepass plowed into the Electric pokemon and sent it flying almost directly up into the air. Roxanne turned to see the worried look on Ash's face, but instead felt a feeling of terror as he wore a huge grin.

"You might want to look again!" He called over to her.

"Huh?" Roxanne looked down at Nosepass and saw that it was frozen in place, violently shaking as little sparks of light danced around its body. It was paralyzed. For a moment, she considered what to do but then realized something that made her heart skip a beat.

"No!" She cried out as she realized what was going on. This was exactly what Ash had wanted to happen. With Pikachu still high in the air from the attack, Ash called for an attack.

"Pikachu, now! Dive!"

Pikachu, though hurt from the Rollout, regained its composure and straightened out to dive headfirst at Nosepass, who was still frozen in place from Pikachu's Static.

"No! Nosepass get out of there!" Roxanne cried out desperately as Nosepass trembled before her. Realizing that this wasn't helping, she anticipated the inevitable.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail Let's go!" Ash called as he pounded his fist in the air. Pikachu's tail in turn glowed a bright white as it positioned for the attack. As it swiftly advanced toward the ground, Nosepass suddenly recovered and looked to its trainer.

"Pass?" It asked, unaware of the danger that was now just above its head.

"NOSEPASS USE HARDEN NOW!" Roxanne cried out right as Pikachu slammed into the top of the Compass Pokemon with its strengthened attack. The impact greatly damaged the both of them, evident by the result. As Pikachu was thrown across the ground to Ash's side, Nosepass trembled in place and barely caught itself from falling face first into the ground. Everyone in the stadium held their breaths as Pikachu shakily rose to its feet, panting badly. After a hit like that, one of the two would undoubtedly go down, it was just a matter of who wanted it more. For what seemed like an eternity, the two stood shaking before their trainers. Suddenly a pained look came over Pikachu's face and it nearly fell, catching itself just barely before it hit the ground. At seeing this, Nosepass made that look again- almost as if it were smiling. But right as Roxanne began to think that the battle was hers, Nosepass stiffly swayed back and forth before falling onto its back on the ground.

"Nosepass is unable to battle!" The ref announced coolly. "Pikachu is the victor. Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town wins the match!"

At this, the stands lit up in cheers as Brock and May jumped up in support of their friend.

"We did it Pikachu!" Ash called excitedly to his partner as it turned and bounded into his arms.

"Pika pikapi!" It cried happily as Ash hugged his friend. As the two embraced, May ran across the field to them and plowed into Ash, hugging him tightly.

"You did it, you won!" She said happily as she held him.

Ash quickly returned her hug as he put an arm around her while Pikachu rested in the other.

"Eh hem." Brock cleared his throat to snap the two out of there moment as he stood facing them with his arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

Blushing, The two released each other and faced him. May was especially red.

"Congratulations, Ash." Roxanne said as she crossed the field over to the celebrating party. "It was an excellent battle."

"Gee, thanks Roxanne." He replied sheepishly now that her judging him in battle was over.

"I must admit, your strategy was quite impressive. And since you beat me, I should present you with this."

Ash held his hand out as she handed him a small metal badge.

"This badge is one of eight in the Hoenn region." She continued. "Once you collect them all, you can proceed to the Hoenn League to compete against the Elite Four."

"Wow, Ash!" May said as she admired the flashy talisman in his hand. "You could end up being the new Hoenn Champion someday!"

"Woah, hold on May." Brock said as he smiled at her. "Although a good battle, this is only the first. From here on they will get increasingly more difficult, so we still have a while to go."

"But if you keep battling like that, I don't see any reason why you can't go on to the Elite Four." Roxanne said kindly to Ash. He blushed at the compliment- especially because it came from a Gym Leader.

"Wow, you really think so?" He asked and she nodded with a smile.

"Just keep doing what you are and you'll be fine." She looked down at her watch and let out a sigh. "Well thanks again for an exceptional battle, but I must be getting back to the Trainer's School now. Good luck, Ash."

As Roxanne crossed to the back exit of the building, the group said their goodbyes and exited the Gym.

"Well I don't know about you guys," Brock started with a smile. "But after all of that excitement I could go for a bite to eat. How about a picnic?"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed, looking up from his shiny new badge for the first time since they left the building.

"Sounds good to me!" May agreed despite the huge breakfast that she had just finished an hour ago.

With his first Badge in hand, Ash is feeling more ready than ever to face Hoenn and become Pokemon Champion. But with friends like these and the returned love of May with him all the way, nothing could dampen the spirits of the teenaged Trainer as the group moves on toward whatever the next town has in store.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks to charpoH for your review, you convinced me work on the story more and thanks for the compliment. I apologize for not updating more often, I will try to get better. I suppose that I have just been losing interest as I move on to other things, but will happily continue with the story at hand.**

**Warning ahead of time: Short chapter that mostly just sets up the next few. Please don't be upset though, I will post the following chapters really soon.**

**And with that, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Contests 101**

"Ok Taillow, use Aerial Ace!"

"Tai!"

Taillow became a blur as it descended from the sky, slicing through the air with an aim at Pikachu- its current target as well as training partner. Despite the pokemon that shot at it like a bullet, Pikachu stood on all fours with a determined smile as it waited for its trainer's command. As Taillow leveled with the ground only yards from the electric type, Ash made the call.

"Now Pikachu, use Agility to dodge it!"

Pikachu's image flickered as it dove out of the way of the almost unavoidable attack. A smile grew on the trainer's face at seeing both Pikachu and Taillow's speed increase from all of their training.

"Wow, that one was really close!" May exclaimed as she watched the scene from behind Ash. Currently the brunette was sitting in a lawn chair with Torchic in her arms while Brock prepared lunch for the group.

Right after the teens had left Ash's Gym battle, they decided to stop for a picnic in a field just outside of Rustboro. True to form, Ash had immediately started training with Pikachu and Taillow while Brock and May observed.

"Yeah, we'll definitely be ready for the next Gym if we keep this up!" Ash replied as he enthusiastically coordinated the movements of his pokemon.

"Well, I think you all deserve a break." Brock said with a smile as he removed a large pot from over a small fire. "Besides, it's lunchtime."

Both Ash and May rushed over to the table and took their seats, watching the pot with great interest as they awaited Brock's latest masterpiece. When he uncovered the top revealing a variation of his signature Brock Stew, both perked up and began to serve themselves.

"Alright guys, come and get it!" Brock called to the pokemon as he set down three bowls of pokefood as well. Right away Pikachu, Taillow, and Torchic rushed over to their meals and began to chow down happily.

"Wow, this is great Brock!" Ash spoke up after a while, pouring himself another bowl.

"Yeah, amazing as always!" May agreed, following Ash's action.

"Thanks!" Brock replied as he was only halfway through his first bowl. "I figured you guys deserved a good meal after all of your training."

May looked up from her bowl at Ash wearing a curious look. "Yeah, why all of the hard work all of a sudden? You just won your first Gym badge, after all."

"Honestly, I should be training more than I am even now." He replied as he stopped eating to look up at her.

"Really?"

"Yeah…" Ash rubbed the back of his head as he recalled his earlier battle. "You see, trainers need to constantly work with their pokemon so that they both get stronger and keep their bonds strong as well." He looked down at Pikachu before he continued, who was happily eating Brock's special Pokefood. "Lately I haven't been training a whole lot, but that changes today!"

"But you seemed to do great in that battle earlier, even without training." May continued. This time it was Brock who answered.

"Well a part of that was that Ash had a great strategy for winning the match, despite the massive type disadvantage. But without hardly doing any recent training- or any in Taillow's case- I think that Ash was just lucky that the battle went the way it did."

"Huh?" May looked to Ash who gave a nervous chuckle.

"Brock is right. I probably should have trained with Taillow before just charging into a battle like that. But it all worked out in the end, and now I have more time to work with my pokemon before the next Gym."

May nodded in understanding, though she was surprised at how much effort and time it apparently took to be a successful trainer. But regardless of all the hard work, Ash seemed to really enjoy it so she would support him in all of his training. Then she remembered a question that she had.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you guys about something." She said as she set aside her bowl, finished with lunch.

"Sure, anything." Brock replied.

"While we were in the Pokemon Center I talked to this lady with a Skitty, and she mentioned something called a 'Pokemon Contest.'"

"A what?" This was completely new to Ash as well.

"I'm not sure," May continued. "But she also mentioned something about 'ribbons' that you apparently get after winning one."

"Ah, I remember now." Brock said as he went into his explanation. "I read about it on the way here. A Pokemon Contest is similar to a Gym, though you receive Ribbons instead of Badges. Once you have five Ribbons, you get the chance to compete in something called the Grand Festival- a loose equivalent to the Pokemon League."

"Sounds cool." Ash said with interest toward this new form of official battling.

Brock nodded. "However, there are many differences between Contests and Gym Battles."

"Like what?"

"For starters, a Contest is generally made up of several 'rounds', which all focus on the beauty of a pokemon and its moves over how powerful they are. This is especially important during the first round, otherwise known as an appeal."

"Appeal?" May asked, highly intrigued with the subject.

"An appeal is like an audition," Brock clarified. "In an appeal, the pokemon performs a combination of different attacks with the aim of creating a unique and visually pleasing performance before a panel of Judges, as well as the audience. After each appeal, the pokemon is given a rating by each of the judges based off of how well both pokemon and coordinator performed. At the end of the appeal process, only a handful of contestants move on to the next round, so it is crucial to leave a good first impression."

"What is the next round?" Ash inquired.

"The second round is the first of the battle rounds. In it, coordinators are randomly chosen to face each other in a one-on-one battle. At the beginning of the battle round, each contestant is given a set amount of points which can be lost through taking damage from the opposing team. At the end of five minutes, the pokemon still standing or with the most remaining points is victorious and moves on. This continues until there is a winner, who is given a Ribbon from that contest."

"Wow…" May said in awe of the idea. "I can't believe I've never heard of this before! It sounds amazing!"

"Well then you're in luck," Brock said with a smile as he fished a pamphlet out of his backpack. "This says that they're holding a contest in Rustboro City tomorrow."

"Really?" May asked as Brock handed her the pamphlet. As she skimmed through it, Ash could see the interest and adoration in May's eyes. It was a totally different look than she had toward regular battles, although he wasn't quite sure what to make of it yet.

"If you'd like we could go." Brock offered as he went to cleaning up after their meal. "That is, if Ash doesn't mind delaying his next Gym battle by a day."

May looked at Ash with a sparkle in her eyes, showing her desire to attend the Contest. He smiled at her.

"Yeah, no problem!"

"Awesome!" May said as she hugged him, almost knocking him onto the ground with the sudden action. Brock watched their hug awkwardly, still unsure as to if they were friends or a little more by now. As May let go of Ash, he got an idea.

"Hey May, do you want to help me train?" He asked her as he stood from the wooden table.

"Sure! But I don't know how much I can actually do…"

"Don't even worry about that," He said as he took her hand. "We're going to train together!"

She blushed a bit when he took her hand in his and happily followed him over to where he had been training previously. Brock scratched his head as he watched the couple.

_Man, they sure do seem close._ He thought as he observed their training regimen take form. _I'll get it out of them, somehow._

The trio stayed out in the field through the early afternoon, Brock taking inventory and giving training advice to Ash and May who had been working with their pokemon almost nonstop. Ash still focused on Taillow's air attacks while having Pikachu dodge them, seeing as a practice counter attack could easily harm the Flying type. While he repeated this, he also worked out a separate exercise for May and Torchic with the help of Brock. After doing this for a while, the two shared a practice battle with her Torchic facing Taillow.

"Now Taillow, use Quick Attack!" Ash ordered his pokemon, who obliged.

"Torchic, dodge and then use Ember!" May countered.

Taillow came at a low sweep toward its opponent, who hopped to the side just before the attack made contact. Once it was out of dodge, Torchic shot a small blast of fire at Taillow.

"Dive, Taillow!" Ash called, sending Taillow swooping just below the flames.

_Wow, Torchic's Ember has gotten a lot stronger_. Ash thought as he observed the orange pokemon below Taillow. _I've got to keep an eye out for that._

Meanwhile, May had noticed as well and was highly amused by her pokemon's growth.

"That was great Torchic, now try it again!" She went on the offensive once more, Torchic sending the improved attack out as a follow-up. However, Ash caught the action and adjusted.

"Taillow, do a flip!" He called before watching his pokemon begin its aerial acrobatics.

"Not so fast!" May said determinedly as she pointed at Taillow. "Torchic, try to follow it with your Ember!"

"Tor!" It replied as it trailed Taillow's flight path with the flames, closely tailing it. Again the attack missed, but it was the result that left the group in awe. The Ember had left a perfect blazing circle in the air momentarily, tracing Taillow's flight pattern.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Ash said as he watched the flames fade after a moment.

Brock nodded in agreement. "Coordinators use move manipulations just like that during contests to score points or hit an evasive opponent."

"Wait… so that could be part of a combination?" May asked as she turned her gaze from the sky to Brock.

"I don't see why not." He replied with a smile. "But remember, for it to be a successful combination there has to be multiple moves involved to make it unique."

May nodded with a smile. Ash and Brock didn't know it, but she was really happy to hear that she had created something that could someday be used in a contest. It didn't even matter that she had never witnessed one before, she loved the very idea behind using a pokemon's beauty in a competition. Closing her eyes, she imagined herself standing on a stage before hundreds of cheering fans beside Torchic, who had just completed its signature combination to the audience's delight. She curtseyed before the crowd signifying her thanks, and-

"May?"

"Huh?" May snapped out of her daydream and back into the field where she and Ash were still holding a practice battle. Seeing that both Ash, Pikachu and Brock were staring at her, she blushed at the realization that she had also curtseyed in real life without even realizing it.

"Are you alright?" Ash asked, looking at her confusedly.

"Yeah, fine!" She giggled nervously before catching some movement out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, what's that?"

Both Ash and Brock turned to where she was looking, noticing a bush by the wood's edge that shook as something moved behind it. At first it seemed kind of distant, but as it grew closer the trainers tensed up.

"What do you think it could be?"

"I don't know, but it sounds big…"

The rustling grew louder and louder as the shaking intensified, causing Ash to act on impulse.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pika- Chuu!" the pokemon cried as it sent a blast of electricity at the brush. As the attack made contact with a nearby tree instead of the unknown target, the threat bounded out from the foliage and into the trainers' vision. May immediately screamed at the sight, surprised by what she saw.

* * *

**Well, not a lot to this chapter. Basically, it's an intro into a larger part of the story (And you can probably guess what that'll be.) ****Before long I will post chapter 12, which will be a lot more important and action-packed than this chapter. I apologize for how short it is and how little took place, but it's a setup and I figured that the natural cliffhanger at the end there is a good place to separate this one from the following chapter.**

**While i'm at it, I have a question for the readers who have read to this point. How is the story so far in general? Have I strayed at all from the original path the story was on? How would you rate it? You obviously don't have to answer, though it's your reviews and input that allow me to improve and also motivate me to continue with the story. These questions have been at me for a while, so if you can answer then please do.**

**Thanks,**

**-Startersoverlegends**


	12. Chapter 12

**What else can I say but thank you guys for the reviews! I don't think that I've ever gotten so many within such a short period of time, which is awesome! I love the fact that there is still so much support for the story, and trust me it doesn't go unnoticed. **

**Well, as I promised, this chapter came quick and has a lot more in it then the last did. I hope you guys like it, it was pretty fun to write.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 12: The Next Step**

May's sudden scream caused Ash and Brock to jump in surprise, both expecting some ferocious beast of a pokemon to charge out of the woods at them. What they heard next from May, however, quickly denounced their theory.

"A Skitty!" She exclaimed with a look of great longing apparent on her face.

"Skitty?" Ash asked as he and Brock recovered from the scare. Standing before them was a small pokemon with a pink plush coat and smiling eyes, although its most prominent feature was found in its oddly-shaped tail. Having never seen the pink creature before, he raised his pokedex for more information.

_Skitty, the Kitten Pokemon. Skitty is naturally drawn to moving objects, and is known to chase its toy-like tail around for hours if it is bored. Due to its cute appearance and behavior, many people seek them out as pets. Skitty is the pre-evolved form of Delcatty. _

"Well that explains that." Brock commented as he watched May admire the adorable pokemon.

"I'm going to catch it!" She shouted suddenly as her previously infatuated face became one of determination and focus. "Torchic, help me out!"

"Tor!" The little pokemon replied as it took its place before May in the field. Luckily, Torchic had already been out of its pokeball while it trained with Pikachu just moments ago.

As May and Torchic stared down the cuddly pokemon, it simply tilted its head at them before managing to catch some movement off to its side. Brock and Ash sweat dropped at the result when the Normal type suddenly began to chase its own tail in a circle.

"It's just so cute!" May squealed as she temporarily lost her poise.

"May, focus!" Brock called to her. "It's getting away!"

"Huh?"

Sure enough, the Skitty had been sidetracked by some form of movement as it began to run away from her. Quickly regaining her composure, May gave chase.

"Quick Torchic, don't let it get away!"

"Tor!"

And in a flash, she was gone. Ash looked to Brock with a confused expression, returned with a shrug from the aspiring pokemon breeder.

"Should we go after her?"

Both recalled her misfortune when they had left her to catch that Wurmple on her own. With a shiver at the thought of what might have happened if Ash hadn't gotten to her so quickly, they nodded and took off in pursuit of the reckless and somewhat unpredictable May.

* * *

"Aha, now I've got you!" May said as she had finally caught up to the pokemon who, despite its small size, managed to keep up an impressive speed. May was just glad that there was some sort of moving object to halt the pokemon long enough for her to approach it.

"Better not waste any time here," She said as Torchic caught up to her. "Use Ember!"

"Tooor!"

The Chick Pokemon opened its mouth wide as a small beam of fire shot at Skitty, who was caught off-guard by the move and in turn sent rolling from the attack.

"Good job Torchic!" My praised her partner for the successful hit as Ash and Brock caught up.

"May, look out!" Ash shouted to get her attention. Looking back over, Skitty had stood back up and shaken the black off of its precious coat before getting into a fighting stance. Giving a mew as it readied its counter, Skitty opened its mouth and launched a cyan colored beam back at its opponent.

"Torchic, dodge it!"

Torchic moved out of the attack's path just in time to avoid getting hit, but slipped as it landed on a patch of ice left by the beam's contact with the ground.

"Wow, that Skitty knows Ice Beam!" Brock exclaimed in shock. It definetly hadn't been what he expected from the pokemon, as Ice Beam could usually only be taught through use of a TM or a tutor.

"Ice beam!?" May asked in astonishment as she turned back to the battle. Skitty was now running at Torchic with its tail readied to strike.

"Torchic, get up and dodge it!"

Torchic jumped to its feet to avoid the oncoming move, but only managed to slip on the ice again. This left it open to Skitty's next attack, a fierce Double Slap with its tail.

"Tor…" The Fire type was now laying on its front as the effect of the attacks lingered.

"Torchic, can you keep going?" May asked with concern toward her pokemon. Torchic looked up at its trainer, who it could tell really wanted to catch this pokemon. Mustering all of its strength for May, Torchic struggled to its feet and faced the Skitty once more.

"That's it!" May encouraged her pokemon while Ash and Brock cheered them on in the background.

"Now Torchic, use Scratch!"

Torchic nodded before lunging forward with its small talons at the ready. Skitty quickly dodged the attack before aiming yet another Ice Beam at Torchic.

"Oh no you don't!" May said as she caught the movement. "Torchic, use Ember now!"

Torchic halted its missed Scratch attack before turning to face Skitty, firing off its Ember to intersect the opposite blast.

_I really hope that this is strong enough to counter..._ May thought as she watched the beams charge, fists clenched.

Both attacks fired simultaneously, hitting each other in the center of the field for a moment before leveling off. All trainers held their breaths as the fire from Torchic's Ember held its own against the Ice Beam. After a moment of even struggle between the two moves, May noticed that Torchic was shaking.

_At this rate, Torchic won't be able to hold on much longer,_ May thought as she watched Torchic struggle with the conflicting attacks.

It was here that May called upon something that Ash had once told her. Again, his words of advice came to mind from the start of their journey:

"_You would be amazed at what a pokemon can do when it's in trouble. But if you have trust in your pokemon, then it will always be ok- no matter what."_

"Hang in there Torchic!" She cried out suddenly, supporting her pokemon. "I know you can do it!"

Ash's priceless advice had worked for her once before, and so she knew that it would again. Just as Torchic was about to lose its attack tug-of-war, it heard May's encouragement from behind and strengthened its resolve. Planting its feet on the ground, Torchic gave an impressive cry before its attack was intensified to almost double what it had been previously. With the flames of Ember now much larger than the Ice Beam, Torchic quickly overtook its opponent's move. From there the flames shot straight at Skitty, who didn't have enough time to dodge and was quickly engulfed in the flames.

"Wow, just look at that power!" Brock noted as he witnessed Torchic's Ember reach a new level.

Ash just smiled as he watched May. She had grown tremendously as a trainer, despite her only starting a short while ago. But what was more, she had taken his advice to a new level. In fact, it was something that she used every time that her pokemon was in a pinch.

As the flames around Skitty finally faded, it revealed the pink pokemon to be KO'd from the two flaming attacks. May blinked twice at the pokemon as it lay before her. Having never actually gotten as far as to throw a pokeball, she was stunned by what had just happened.

"May, now's your chance!" Ash shouted, snapping her out of her daze.

"Right. Pokeball, go!" She exclaimed while she threw an uninhabited capsule at the pokemon. Opening in midair, the spear retrieved the form of the exhausted pokemon before closing and falling to the ground. There it began to roll back and forth as the capturing process was underway. All eyes focused on the device, each had a different reaction. May was staring at the pokeball intensely with her jaw clenched, not knowing what to expect. Brock and Ash were both following May's gaze with clenched fists, while Ash silently wished that it would be successful. Pikachu, sitting atop Ash's shoulder, was also very interested in the event while Torchic stood before it covered in scratches and breathing heavily.

The ball continued its movements for several moments before it stopped with a ding, signifying that the pokemon had been caught. The trainers and pokemon immediately lit up in cheers seeing as May had caught her first wild pokemon, as well as it being one that she greatly desired. With a smile May picked the red and white orb from the ground and studied it for a moment as Torchic ran to her side.

"You did it May!" Ash exclaimed as he and Brock crossed over to her.

"And after quite a battle too." Brock agreed.

"Thanks guys!" May giggled before she was unable to hold in her happiness any longer. Holding it up, she kissed the pokeball before twirling around and holding it up proudly.

"I can't believe that I just caught a Skitty!"

"Tor!" Torchic celebrated alongside its trainer while the others smiled. Both Ash and Brock knew the rewarding feeling of catching a wild pokemon, and were happy to see that she was enjoying it so much.

"So what now?" She asked after a moment.

"Well, I think that the first thing would be to heal your pokemon." Brock replied as he turned to face her. "Come on, let's go find a place to spend the night and I'll show you how to take care of them after a battle. Then we can start on dinner, how does that sound?"

"Awesome!" Both Ash and May replied together as the sun told it to be around mid-afternoon.

* * *

"There, now doesn't that feel better?" Brock asked Torchic, who had just received treatment. Its wounds weren't terrible, but Brock still made sure to use plenty of Potion as well as Oran Berries just in case.

"Oh, so you just spray the potion on wherever it's hurt and then give it berries?" May asked as she watched the treatment from beside Brock, who chuckled.

"Well there is a little more to it than that." He said with a smile as Torchic hopped off of his lap to go play with Pikachu.

"What do you mean?"

"There are all sorts of different wounds and afflictions that can result from battle, and so there are many ways to heal a pokemon after battle as well." Brock stated as he got his supplies ready for the next patient. "And each pokemon requires different care as well, going off of things like species, personality and overall strength."

"Wow… Where did you learn all of this Brock?"

"When you want to be a successful pokemon breeder, you have to have a good knowledge of pokemon care." He replied as he pulled a red spray bottle from his backpack. "Besides," He continued, "When you travel with pokemon for as long as I have, you pick up a few things."

"Oh ok." May said once he seemed finished with preparations. "Should I let Skitty out now?"

"That would be great."

May proceeded to pull out her newly filled pokeball and released it, aiming at the ground. With a flash of red light a familiar shape appeared.

"Meww?" The pokemon asked, weak but curious.

"Come here little one," Brock said with a smile as he reached down and lifted Skitty into his arms. "Hm… We've got our work cut out for us here."

"What do you mean?"

Brock examined the pokemon on his lap for a moment before he replied.

"Skitty got hit with a couple of really powerful Fire type attacks during your battle, so it obtained a burn." Seeing the concerned look on May's face, Brock realized that his tone of voice may have been a bit more serious than was called for. "But it will be ok, I promise. We just have to use some of this."

Brock grabbed the red spray bottle and aimed it at a black spot on Skitty, holding the pokemon still while he went into treatment. At first Skitty began to struggle against the feeling of the spray against its tender skin, but as the black spot faded away the pokemon took on a relieved look.

"What is that stuff Brock?" May asked at seeing how effective the spray was against the burn.

"This is a Burn Heal. Many trainers will carry one with them just in case a burn is acquired, although some berries will have the same effect."

May was amazed at Brock's seemingly bottomless knowledge of pokemon treatment. She was about to say something to him about it, when a voice stopped her.

"Hey May, come look at this!"

It was Ash, and he sounded to be on the small cliff above them. Shortly after the group had left from May's battle with Skitty, they had found a place that seemed to be perfect for them to stay for the night. It consisted of a cliff as mentioned earlier, but also contained a bit of a cave-in area on its face so that the group could duck in if it started to rain. Not that rain seemed possible at the moment- it was a truly beautiful evening. It was in the cave-in area that Brock had set up for healing May's pokemon, while the restless Ash Ketchum took the task of setting up camp for the group up on the higher ground.

May shot a look at Brock before leaving, asking if Skitty would be ok.

Brock nodded. "It will be just fine now, all it needs is some rest. Why don't you go up to Ash while I clean up?"

"Thanks, Brock!" She replied as she exited the makeshift room, turning to walk up the slope to the top where Ash was. It was just getting dark, as the sky faded from an orange color into deep purple within the skies above. After a minute of hiking May finally arrived at the top, where the camp already seemed to be set up. There was a small fire crackling in the center, surrounded by two logs that served as chairs as well as a sleeping bag and their trainer backpacks.

"Ash?" She asked as he was nowhere to be seen.

"Over here!"

She looked over to where his voice was coming from and saw that he was over by the cliff's edge. May hesitated for a moment, still uncomfortable with heights after the Wurmple incident. But it seemed urgent to Ash as he ran over to her and took her hand in his.

"Come on, you're going to miss it!"

With that he led her over to where he was standing previously. There, he also had two sleeping bags set up next to each other a safe distance from the edge, while still giving them the best possible visibility of the sky.

"What is it?" She asked as she admired Ash's romantic eye for both privacy and scenery.

"Look up."

May followed his gaze into the sky, where she was completely stunned by what she saw.

"Wow…" She whispered as she stared at the beautiful occurrence above them. In the dark purple of the sky, there were a million stars piercing through- as if they could see the entire galaxy before them. But the most impressive component was the countless streaks of pink that shot through the sky before disappearing right in front of them.

"A meteor shower?" She asked as she looked down to him.

"Yup." Ash replied without looking down from the sight.

She directed her attention back up at the stars as they danced around, shooting back and forth with incredible speed before dying out. After a while of marveling at the phenomenon Ash looked back down to his girlfriend, who was staring at the sky with a wonderland expression. He smiled as he took her hand once more.

"Come on," He gestured toward the sleeping bags which had been set up so that the two could watch the sky. May smiled as she laid on hers, back against the bedding. Ash did the same beside her, still keeping her hand entwined with his. The spot was perfect- far enough away from the rest of the camp so that they could be alone, while still offering them a great view and a soft, level place to sleep.

May turned her head to face her boyfriend, before giving him a peck on the cheek.

"I love it." Was all she said, but that was all he wanted to hear.

As the rest of the sky darkened, allowing the stars to shine even brighter, May decided to have some fun with him. Silently, she moved her foot over to his and pressed them together playfully. Ash, however, didn't understand what she was getting at and moved his foot away so that she could have more room. May giggled at this, scooting over so that she could play with his foot some more. Again, Ash moved for her but she kept at it until he said something.

"Uh, May? Are your feet cold or something?" He still didn't get it.

She giggled again at his obliviousness to her actions before replying.

"You've never heard of footsies before?"

he gave her a confused look before she sighed.

"It's a game, silly."

Ash got a mischievous smile as he made his comeback.

"Oh, so this is a game?" He asked as he began to gently kick around her feet.

"Hey!" May responded by kicking him back before receiving a slight nudge in return. Before long it was a playful wrestling match as the couple went back and forth with their exchanges. Finally, May ended up on top of Ash, pinning him down.

"I win." She said softly with a smile as her face hovered only inches from his.

"Is that what you think?" He asked before turning it around on her, ending up on top while she was held against the sleeping bag. Little did he know that May had a Plan B. Reaching around his body, she tickled his sides aggressively until he fell over from laughter. It was then that she regained her position on top, making sure to keep him in place this time.

Once he stopped laughing, she placed her lips against his and did the same. This kiss lasted slightly longer than the others had, with them still occasionally rolling around and wrestling while their lips were locked. Finally though, they separated and snuggled into their respective sleeping bags against the cool evening air.

"Goodnight Ash." She whispered with her face about a foot from his.

"Goodnight May." He replied with a warm smile.

Tomorrow they would return to Rustboro City to witness an official Pokemon Contest, something that appealed especially to May. It was this and the fact that she now had a Skitty that caused her to smile as she fell into sleep, still holding hands with a now snoozing Ash while Brock could be heard gently snoring in the background.

* * *

**So how was that? Please review with your thoughts, if you have the time. And don't be afraid to be critical if you saw an error, that is the only way I will improve.**

**Chapter 13 will have a few appearances by familiar characters *heh heh* and so stay tuned for the latest development!**

**Thanks,**

**-StartersoverLegends**


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